Church’s trey tops Essex, sets up playoff replay
BALTIMORE – If Saturday night's regular-season men's basketball contest was any indication, Tuesday night's postseason confrontation should be exciting.
Chesapeake College defeated host CCBC-Essex, 76-73, as Chad Church drained a tie-breaking 3-pointer at the buzzer. That set up a rematch between the teams at Chesapeake College Tuesday night at 5 p.m. in the first round of the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference state tournament.
"If we were going back to Essex I'd be more concerned," Chesapeake head coach Joel Dearring said of the rematch. "Now that we're coming back home to the 'Peake – like they say, there's no place like home. We'd love to have a big crowd for this game – really pack the place."
Church, whose playing time was severely limited by foul trouble, had just four points before knocking down the game-winning trey. Yet Dearring had no concerns about putting the ball in Church's hands with the game on the line.
"Nothing but net," said Dearring of Church's game-winner.
The Skipjacks (16-9 overall, 9-6 league) used Saturday's victory to clinch the sixth seed in the 16-team Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference state tournament. A win over the 11th-seeded Knights (9-15, 6-9) would earn Chesapeake a spot in the state's Elite Eight, who will play off for the tournament title this weekend at Harford Community College.
Akanni Salako scored a game-high 17 points and Geran Pope posted another double-double (15 points, 17 rebounds) as the Skipjacks improved to 3-0 since a knee injury to sophomore standout Jimmie Jenkins sidelined him indefinitely.
"One person goes down, another person steps up," Dearring said of his team's philosophy. "If we can get Jimmie back, it's a wonderful thing. If not, we have to go on. Our goal is to reach the national tournament. That's what's pushing us."
Justin May matched Pope's 15 points, and Louis Simpson added eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.
"Louis Simpson had a great all-around game for us," said Dearring.
Thomarcus Nix led Essex with 16 points. Shawn Bozier added 14 points and Arvin Jackson III contributed 13 points.
If the Skipjacks beat Essex Tuesday, they will likely play third-seeded Frederick Community College (18-8, 10-5) in Friday's quarterfinals. Chesapeake defeated Frederick at Frederick earlier this season.
Conference champion Baltimore City Community College (18-8, 14-1) is the tournament's top seed while Hagerstown Community College (22-4, 13-2) is seeded second.
"As I look at the bracket, if we're fortunate enough to beat Essex, we would have to then beat three straight Division I teams to win the state title," said Dearring of possible meetings with Frederick, Hagerstown and Baltimore City. "We want that opportunity. It would be a great way for us to prepare for the Division II regional tournament."