DANVILLE — The Pima Community College men’s basketball team was the team to beat.
Ranked No. 1 in the country.
With a 34-0 record.
All signs pointed toward the Aztecs cruising to an NJCAA Division II national championship.
But none of that mattered to Parkland. The Cobras went into Friday night’s national semifinal game as the fourth seed with belief. And came out as confident as ever after a convincing 95-74 win to advance to Saturday night’s national championship game.
“We all just trusted each other,” Parkland sophomore Chandler Jackson said. “We knew we could beat them. As the clock winded down, it felt surreal. I knew from the minute we stepped on the floor that we could beat these guys. It was just an amazing moment.”
The Cobras (33-2) will play either third-seeddd Kirkwood (Iowa) or seventh-seeded Kalamazoo Valley at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Mary Miller Gym for the title.
It’s Parkland’s first trip to the national final since its runner-up finish in 1988, and the Cobras are going for their first championship since 1986.
“Parkland has a deep tradition,” Cobras coach John Bowler said. “Not just the fan base, but a group of tight-knit players who talk about it. Going back means a lot, but we obviously have another 40 to play.”
From the opening tip, the Cobras looked like a team on a mission. By the first media timeout, they were already ahead 14-4, and they stretched that advantage to as many as 18 points midway through the first half.
“Job’s not finished,” Jackson said of their mindset after jumping out to that early lead. “We just had to keep it going the whole game.”
As halftime approached, however, Pima started to chip away at that deficit. Little by little, the Aztecs got back into the game, and Parkland’s double-digit lead was only 44-38 at the break.
The Cobras knew this was coming. A team that earned the top seed and kept a zero in the loss column all year wasn’t going to let them run away with it.
“They’re a really good program,” Bowler said of Pima. “They’re tough, big, physical, talented at every spot, deep and a great offensive team. Our guys knew the type of team we were playing, and they elevated themselves and played up to the standard and competition we asked for.”
The Aztecs got within four points just before the 10-minute mark, and that’s when Parkland freshman Adam Squire caught fire from beyond the three-point arc. Just when it looked like Pima was on its way to taking its first lead, Squire buried three consecutive threes to put the Cobras back up by 15 points.
“I had a good game (Wednesday), so once I got in there, I knew I had to be aggressive,” Squire said. “Once I hit my first one, I knew I had the green light. Unconscious, really.”
From there, the Cobras (33-2) took off and ended the game with their largest lead.
Squire’s 23 points off the bench, going 5 for 6 from deep, led the way. Drew Lewis Jr. scored 17 points, and Champaign native JaMonte Williams put up 16. Jackson dropped another 16 points while grabbing nine rebounds. Jaiden Martin recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
In many ways, Friday’s semifinal felt like the championship game, but the Cobras have one more to go. Their key in the 24 hours before then is to not get too high on this win, stay composed and play 40 more minutes of solid basketball.
“I’m a parrot right now, but we’ve been saying it all year: 81 minutes better than last year,” Bowler said. “On the board (Friday) was 80. We got that one back (Wednesday). Now, the board changes to 40. Our goal and our focus has been on those numbers the entire time. The guys see that. At the end of the day, the level is what it is. Everybody wants to be recruited and go to the next thing. These dudes in here are bought into each other, bought into what we’ve sold, our standard and our expectations. All the credit goes to them.”
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