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NMCC, Charleston to meet in first-ever sectional
Note: This game has been postponed until 6 p.m. Thursday at Dexter High School.
DEXTER -- In a rivalry as old as Charleston and New Madrid County Central's, there are not a lot of firsts still to be had.
Yet after all the years of battling each other for district titles the two teams will meet for the first time ever during the Class 3 sectionals tonight, weather permitting, at the Bearcat Event Center in Dexter at 6 p.m.
It was the Bluejays' move to District 2 that led to these circumstances after taking the last four-straight District 1 championships. NMCC last won it in 2008.
"The thing against us is this is what they live for," NMCC head coach Travis Day said of the Bluejays and their rich basketball history. "Charleston has won their share of state titles and no matter what kids are in those uniforms, tournament time is what they live for. You just have to go through that."
It's not a stretch to say both teams saw this situation playing out since early in the season. Both squads looked to be favorites in their respective districts from the on-set and by the time the postseason hit both squads had locked up the top seeds in their tournaments.
True to form, neither suffered a letdown in districts with NMCC capturing the District 1 crown with a 70-32 dismantling of Malden and Charleston holding off Woodland 71-62 in the District 2 title game.
In their one meeting this season, the Eagles got the upper hand 80-72 in early January. In that meeting NMCC standout senior Willie Jimerson put up 34 points to Bluejay star senior Delfincko Bogan's 27 points.
The win snapped a streak of eight-straight losses to Charleston that stretched over four years.
"We can take a lot away from that," Bluejays' head coach Danny Farmer said. "The first time they beat us they had a couple players (with big games). One was Jimerson, which he's going to score his, but Javarcus Word, he lit us up for about 28 points. We're going to try and stop that. We feel if we can limit him and do the same thing we did the last time in shutting the rest of them down we have a good chance."
While the game will certainly be hyped by many fans as Bogan vs. Jimerson, both teams showed as recently as last week that they're not as reliant on their stars as one might assume.
In the Eagles' three district tournament games, Jimerson averaged only 15 points a game, including a five-point effort in the title game. In the semifinal and championship rounds, however, NMCC combined for a total of 20 3-pointers to go with their typically strong inside game.
Along with Jimerson, Word, Asten Newsom, Chris Farr and Vontre Jones all posted double-figure scoring totals at least once in the tournament.
"We matured and our bench has gotten better," Day said. "We've been able to get deeper and more guys to play. I like how we've grown."
For Charleston, a team that needed to rely on Bogan a ton early in the season has seen the emergence of others on the roster such as the brothers, Dontarius and Demarcus Sharp.
Bogan averaged 19 points a game between the district semifinals and championship game while battling illness, but the Sharp brothers showed they aren't to be overlooked.
They combined for 68 points in those same two games. Both are lethal from three-point range as Dontarius had six 3-pointers in the last two games and Demarcus added seven.
"The Sharp brothers are shooting the mess out of it right now," Day said. "The biggest thing is you have to control them and keep Del under wraps. So it's going to be very hard for us to do."
On his team's growth, Farmer added, "We've been playing well. We've turned from a one-man team into an (all-around) team. Take districts for instance. Del didn't score a lot of points for us to win that district. He was sick all through the district. The other kids played well and came together as a team. We're a much better team than the first time we played New Madrid."
When it comes to defensive strategy, both coaches contended it's not realistic to expect to shut down the other's star player. Instead, the hope is to limit Bogan and Jimerson's damage respectively while containing the players around them.
"I don't think we can stop (Jimerson), but we can make it difficult for him and make the other guys beat us," Farmer said. "We think that's our chance, to make the other guys beat us. We have to contain Word. We can't let him go wild."