Cobras fall short in quarterfinal round
Mar. 22—DANVILLE — Parkland's men's basketball team entered Thursday night's national tournament quarterfinal game with South Suburban seeking more than revenge.
The Bulldogs — who dealt the Cobras their first loss of the season in a chippy game on Jan. 9 — stood in the way of Parkland's first NJCAA Division II Final Four appearance since 1988, when the Cobras placed second.
Both goals eluded Parkland's grasp in a 79-70 loss at Mary Miller Gym on the Danville Area Community College campus.
"We've tried to build the program on just competing every day," Parkland coach John Bowler said. "I know this one hurts because it feels like the season is over, (but) there's an opportunity for us again to compete (Friday)."
Bowler's disposal of scoring options was on display yet again after Jabryn Anderson led the Cobras with 23 points and 11 rebounds in their tournament-opening victory against St. Clair County (Mich.) on Tuesday night.
Champaign native JaMonte Williams led the Cobras with 23 points and five rebounds off the bench on Thursday night, while Anderson scored 21 points and had six rebounds and Tye Banks chipped in nine points of his own.
But it wasn't enough for seventh-seeded Parkland (29-5) against second-seeded South Suburban (33-2).
"I thought Jabryn again was fantastic," Bowler said. "Did a great job guarding and offensively. I think JaMonte played great for us and gave us a real spark."
Neither team gained control throughout an evenly-contested first half that featured nine lead changes and the emergence of Jamel Jones, who led the Bulldogs' offense with 17 points in the first 20 minutes.
But 11 early points from Williams helped the Cobras limit the Bulldogs' halftime edge to 32-30 despite a 24-16 edge for South Suburban on the glass.
"I just think our toughness in a lot of ways (helped)," Bowler said. "We followed the game plan. We kept them out of transition. ... We felt like it was our area there and we didn't turn the ball over."
Banks opened the second half on a personal 4-0 run to give the Cobras a 34-32 lead, the latter basket in that sequence occurring via a turnaround six-footer that eluded the outstretched arm of a defender.
Chris Harrison tied the game shortly after before Jones drilled a three-pointer to give South Suburban a 37-34 lead with 18:20 to play. The Bulldogs never trailed again in advancing to Friday night's national semifinal against
"It's tough because at our level we have freshmen and sophomores, so we're looking for senior leadership and (composure) of juniors and seniors," Bowler said. "They're working their way towards that level."
Parkland called timeout following an alley-oop flush from Tremear Fraley on a dish from Jones that gave the Bulldogs a 45-38 lead with 15:17 to play.
Banks was called for a technical foul in the aftermath of the highlight, enabling Jones to boost the Bulldog's' edge to 47-38 with a pair of free throws.
"We got beat towards the end," Bowler said. "Just the composure side, we've talked it about all year. It starts with me. I've got to do a better job of keeping my composure for the guys."
When Ken Sallee dropped a three to whittle the Cobras' deficit to 51-48 with 12 minutes remaining, the Bulldogs responded with a 10-0 run that all but iced the final outcome.
Parkland will now face fourth-seeded Des Moines Area (Iowa) at 3 p.m. Friday in a fifth-place semifinal game.
"We've talked about it all year that we'll play in an open parking lot against anybody," Bowler said. "Everybody wants to play in the ones that count towards a national championship. The hard ones are the ones that happen after you lose."
