The men’s basketball team began their journey to add “2011” on the basketball banner on Wednesday, Feb. 16 when they played McDonogh at home.  JC beat McDonogh in both of their regular season meetings, including an overtime win on Feb. 7.

Senior Ronald Scott opened up the scoreboard with a three pointer and followed with a lay-up to give JC a 5-0 lead.  Scott had 11 points in the opening quarter, which was more than all of McDonogh’s players combined.  JC held a comfortable lead heading into the second quarter 17-10.

JC continued to effectively handle McDonogh in the second quarter.  Compared to the excitement and back-and-forth nature of the past three games, the first half of this game was all JC.  They went into halftime with an 11 point lead, 29-18.

However, McDonogh refused to back down and slowly cut into JC’s lead.  JC wouldn’t let them make it a one possession game, but the game was still close at the end of the third quarter.  JC held a small lead, 37-33.

In the fourth quarter, McDonogh came back with a vengeance.  Due to a few JC turnovers and two three-pointers, the game was tied at 47 points.  However, JC dug deep and found a way to win.  The final score was JC 58, McDonogh 54.

Scott led the team with 18 points.  Sophomore Mike Owona got a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds and an additional three blocks.  Junior Jarred Jones contributed 15 points and five rebounds.  Senior Malcolm McMillan scored nine points with five steals.

Head coach Tony Martin brought up two JV players, sophomore Jordan Martin and junior Denzel Varner, to play in the tournament games.  “We thought we needed as many bullets in the gun as possible,” Martin said.

Jones was pleased with the win.  “[The win] feels good.  This is what we worked for all year,” Jones said.

He also stressed the importance of being a team player.  “I need to do whatever I need to do to get the win,” Jones said.

The win allowed JC to move forward into their first ever MIAA ‘A’ Conference Championship game.  They will be playing against St. Frances in the final on Sunday at 2 pm.  The game is at UMBC, and Athletic Director Larry Dukes is currently organizing a bus to take fans to the game.

Brian Reid is a reporter for “The Patriot” and jcpatriot.com.