Men Drop 2; Ladies Make It to Semifinals, Fall to CMCC

Coach Bergeron, her staff, and the Seawolves have set the new standard for women’s basketball here at SMCC. The ladies earned a bid to the USCAA Division II national championship in Fayette, Pa. While trudging through another weekend-long tourney, Southern Maine managed to secure a win on the national stage, but fell tragically to YSCC rival Central Maine Community College for the third time this season.

First-year coach Katie Bergeron reflected on the past season, stating, “I think getting a bid to the national tournament showed our girls that hard work and dedication pays off. Nationals is a wonderful experience for them and is something not to take for granted, because it can end in a split second.”

While the women compiled one of the best seasons in recent memory, First Team All-American John Morgan and his outfit would cap off a 23–8 season by dropping two in Fayette. Nonetheless, Coach Richards has earned the privilege to relish a spectacular season — one in which the conference tournament title was captured in front of a home audience in the HUB.

The men would drop their opener to Penn State–Greater Allegheny 81–51 after falling behind 24–9 midway through the first half. The Wolves would never be able to recover to make a serious run at Alleghany.

According to assistant men’s coach AJ Burton, there is a real difference in USCAA play, “especially when you are going up against four-year schools.” He says, “More teams like that understand the meaning of being poised and having more experience overall compared to a school like us.”

Burton continued, “You are in a long grind going against opponents throughout the season, where everyone knows about each other. In the USCAA you are competing against the best, and a majority of those schools are four-year schools.”

In the women’s opener, the Lady Wolves took it to Penn State–Hazelton in the second half, outscoring their opponent 48–18. Jennifer Conrad led the team with a game-high 37 points, of which 23 were scored in the second half.

The win in the quarterfinals set up a third meeting with the Mustangs in Friday’s semifinal game. After spotting the Mustangs an 11-point lead early in the second quarter, the Wolves worked to get back within striking distance of the well-stocked Mustangs.

With a little less than six minutes left in the first half, the Wolves would outscore the Mustangs, 10–6, to pull within two points of CMCC, 28–26. All of the Seawolves’ points would come from the foul line.

The Wolves would hang within striking distance of the Mustangs throughout the third quarter, trailing by only 3. However, fate would not shine brightly upon the Wolves in the fourth quarter: CMCC outscored them 23–10, earning a trip to the finals.

Asked about the CMCC game and the Lady Seawolves’ success this season, Coach Bergeron had this to say:

“We definitely had some tears in the locker room at the end of the game, but reflecting back at our preseason workouts and the start of our season, reaching the final four was not expected, and what our girls get to leave this season with is the pride of beating the odds through grit and determination every time they stepped on the court!”

Bergeron continued by saying, “What makes me most proud of this team is their ability to have reached the level of success they did while maintaining great team chemistry and class off the floor. We put a heavy emphasis on mental toughness and managing our emotions and I truly believe that is what helped us through the adversity we faced on and off the court this year.

The men would finish off their season against Villa Maria, dropping another disappointing loss in Uniontown, 103–84. Matt Richards entered this year’s USCAA with an overall record of 7–12. While the two losses lowers his overall record to 7–14, Richards remains upbeat about the USCAA tournament, his players, and their roles as student athletes.

“The opportunity that the student athletes are presented with this past week by participation in the USCAA national tournament not only is a culmination of their hard work but also gives them the ability to judge themselves against the best of small college student athletes throughout the country. The relation to the skills they have learned to be success on the court will be the same set of skills they will use to be successful in their future endeavors whatever career paths they plan to take after SMCC.”

Speaking with the coaches after SMCC left the tournament, it became obvious that the season’s positives outweighed the negatives. Coach Bergeron spoke of “beating the odds.” AJ Burton quipped, “I can see a YSCC team winning nationals one day. It will come down to what the team really wants and knows that they can compete and win three games in three days.”

First-year Assistant Athletic Director Ethan Wells said he “was impressed with the USCAA tournament for its professionalism and sense of community within affiliated member schools.”

Asked he would like to bring back anything to SMCC from the experience at Uniontown, Wells mentioned, “The USCAA has developed a relationship with a company called Athlete Network. Athlete Network offers scholarships. They also recruit student athletes to make online profiles to become more marketable to the work force and major business companies that Athlete Network partners with. I’m planning on getting our student athletes involved with this.”

Regardless of falling short in the YSCC, the basketball squads have much to be proud of this season. While the HUB will be without YSCC basketball until next fall, one gets a sense that the Seawolves will be ready to make their way back to Uniontown next season.

By Beacon Sports Staff