March Toughness

Jeremy Jacob, Harbinger

April 4, 2016

The magical motto from March Madness is anything can happen.  As the crazed month draws to a close and the college basketball season is about to end, coach Redeker and her Illinois Central College Cougars kept this motto close to their hearts two weeks ago by choosing not to surrender even when the situation seemed grim.

A potential rally was stifled multiple times in the NJCAA Division II National Championship game, but they still came away with some pride as they refused to go away quietly.  

“We never felt like we were out of the game,” Redeker said a couple days after the game.  “So of course we were going to continue to play hard and fight to the finish.  

“We didn’t win 32 games and get to the national championship game by quitting when things were hard and we certainly weren’t going to quit until the buzzer sounded.”

She means this in the most literal sense as shown by what occurred in the second half of the game.  Truly it is probably not the fondest memory for the team, yet the Cougars continued to be aggressive even though their opponent Kansas City Kansas built a daunting 24-point lead.  The press, that on many occasions helped the Cougars force their opponents into submission, was employed allowing the Cougars to trim the deficit to 19 compelling KCK to call a timeout.  

“We knew we couldn’t get all of the points back on one play,” Redeker said.  “But if we could get stops on the defensive end and scores on our end one play at a time, we could get back in the game.  So we concentrated on that.”

Despite all of their efforts, the final score ended up being 81-59 in favor of KCK meaning the Cougars would just have to wait until next year to stage a run for their first national championship since 2006.  

“Their team was very quick and came out firing on all cylinders, which put us back on our heels a bit,” Redeker said.  “They stayed hot from the field and on the offensive glass, which was not a good combination for us.”

Still the Cougars adopted an all-out approach not just because it was the last game of the year but also due to brimming confidence that was discovered over the course of the season due to their “Army of 12”.

“I loved the unselfishness that our team displayed,” Redeker said.  “They bought into the ‘Army of 12’ and fought for each other until the end.”

One notable member of the army was Jemia Carpenter, a Peoria High graduate who joined the Cougars last year.

“I left UIC [University of Illinois-Chicago] due to family issues,” Carpenter said.  “It was a fresh start and after talking to coach Redeker and coach [Greg] Martin, I knew that I would enjoy playing for them.”

Carpenter sure had justifiable reasoning to enjoy this particular season where she fortified a strong sophomore campaign with a laundry list of awards.  She was named a WBCA (Women’s Basketball Coaching Association) All-American, first team All-Region 24 along with fellow sophomore Destiny Ramsey (second year in a row for Ramsey) and Region 24 Player of the Year.  These are some desirable concrete items she can add to her resume, however, she considers the abstract quality of “always playing hard” just as important.

“It’s very important for us to keep playing hard even when we’re down because our momentum can change the aspect of the game.

“Coach does preach to us to play hard when we’re down, but it’s all out of instinct we know that we have to do something to get back into the game.”

Of course, this balanced team received a lot more praise in the form of postseason hardware changing the laundry list into a scroll.  Along with being first team All-Region 24, Ramsey was rewarded for her play in the national tournament by being named to the All-Tournament team along with freshman Kierra Weir.  Fellow freshman Emma Heisler was both the Region 24 Freshman of the Year and the third Cougar named to the All-Region 24 first team while the coaching staff was sprinkled with awards from both the NJCAA and Illinois Basketball Coaches’ Association.  

“Several players could have had better averages and could have been starting at other programs instead of coming off the bench here,” Redeker said.  “But they sacrificed personal glory for the good of the team and were rewarded with an amazing season.”

So this team, while they’re disappointed for not bringing a championship back to ICC this year, still feels proud of themselves for coming away with their second ever second-place finish and fifteenth national trophy overall.  The bright side is they can always use this for motivation to increase their drive and tenacity even more for next year’s championship quest.

“I would expect next year’s sophomores to use this year’s experience to have great composure,” Redeker said.  “And a bit of a chip on their shoulder from this year and do everything they can do from now until next March to get back to nationals.”

Cover photo by Christian Harr. The Cougar faithful are proud of their team regardless of the outcome.