Chesapeake teams learn quarterfinal opponents
WYE MILLS – There was little drama and no real upsets in Tuesday's opening rounds of the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference state basketball tournaments.
Seven of the eight higher-seeded teams won in the first round of the men's tournament, and each of the higher-seeded women's teams advanced. The only road team to win came on the men's side as No. 9 CCBC-Catonsville defeated eighth-seeded Cecil College, 80-59.
The average margin of victory on the men's side was 17 points and the average margin in the women's contests was over 18 points.
"All the top seeds were playing at home and that happens," Chesapeake head men's basketball coach Joel Dearring said of the lopsided first-round games. "Now down to the final eight, Friday's games should be really exciting."
Both Chesapeake College teams learned the identity of their next opponents as a result of Tuesday's games. The sixth-seeded men have a 2 p.m. quarterfinal date Friday with third-seeded Frederick Community College, which notched a 94-85 victory over No. 14 College of Southern Maryland. The second-seeded Skipjack women play Thursday at noon against seventh-seeded Baltimore City Community College, which routed Prince George's Community College, 78-50.
All remaining state tournament games for both the men and women will take place at Harford Community College. Both the men's and women's field will play their semifinals on Saturday and their finals on Sunday.
Conference champion Baltimore City Community College (19-8) is the top seed in the men's tournament.
Chesapeake's men are 17-9 with wins in nine of their last 11 games, including a 4-0 mark since sophomore standout Jimmie Jenkins injured his knee. Jenkins is expected to miss the rest of the state tournament, but the Skipjacks hope to have him back for the regional tournament in two weeks.
Chesapeake defeated Frederick, 105-97, in the regular season behind Jenkins' 29 points and eight assists. Markee Mazyck scored a game-high 39 points for the Cougars (19-8).
"We have to play defense and continue to rebound. If we can battle on the boards and play good defense, I'm not worried about the offensive side of the floor," said Dearring, whose squad has scored at least 100 points 11 times this season.
The Skipjack women, ranked 18th in this week's NJCAA Division II national poll, are even hotter with a 17-1 record and eight straight victories since a loss to Harford Community College. Harford and Chesapeake each ended the conference season with 10-1 marks, but the Owls won the league title and the top seed in the state tournament based on their victory over Chesapeake.
Chesapeake defeated BCCC, 71-56, in their regular-season meeting as Denver Clyde scored 21 points off the bench. Iman Scott had a game-high 23 points for BCCC (11-14) and teammate Tashay Smith added 17, but the Panthers' bench was outscored 34-4.
"We've got to box them out," said Chesapeake head women's coach Damon Nichols. "They out-rebounded Prince George's, 52-35, in their last regular-season game. We also have to keep Iman Scott contained.
They're a very scrappy group," added Nichols about BCCC. "They run up and down the floor."