|
| Nick Mitchell moved into the
starting lineup this season, adding even more offensive firepower
to the scoring-minded LaGrange Panthers. LaGrange athletics photo |
By Brian Lester
D3sports.com
Nick Mitchell admits he and his LaGrange teammates have been riding an emotional high the last few days.
Fresh off winning the USA South Athletic Conference tournament and clinching the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Panthers have had to get their feet back on the ground.
It’s not easy to do with the first NCAA tourney appearance in program history on their minds and expectations lifted to another level after going just 12-12 a year ago.
“It’s a dream come true, but we’ve had to reboot our minds this week because we’ve been on cloud nine,” junior forward Nick Mitchell said. “Winning the conference was a big deal, but we are still a hungry team. We know we are capable of accomplishing more if we all play well.”
Until last season, there was no real shot at the NCAA tourney for the Panthers. No chance to walk on the clouds and savor every moment of the thrill that comes with making it to the dance. Until last season, LaGrange played in the Great South Athletic Conference, which did not have an automatic bid.
“You would have had to win 20 games, our strength of schedule would have had to be really good and other things would have had to fall in place for us,” Panthers coach Kendal Wallace said. “We are very happy to be in the conference. It’s helped our program a great deal and it’s given us the opportunity to make an NCAA Tournament trip a reality. I’m proud of this basketball team.”
It didn’t look like LaGrange (18-10) would make a run in the conference tourney considering the regular season ended with a 92-87 loss to Huntingdon.
Wallace wasn’t concerned.
“As a coach, you want to win them all, and that loss was tough to swallow,” Wallace said. “But one of my assistants came into my office after the game and told me that maybe the loss was good because we got it out of the way before the tourney. We did a good job of bouncing back.”
LaGrange opened the tourney with an 88-76 win over North Carolina Wesleyan and then knocked off Greensboro 116-102 in the semifinals.
A battle with Huntingdon awaited the Panthers in the title game. But LaGrange didn’t stumble this time, winning the title with a 94-84 victory and winning its conference tourney title of any kind since 1975.
Mitchell helped pave the way as the Panthers rallied from a 14-point deficit in the title game to beat the Hawks for the first time this season.
Mitchell scored 21 points in the victory and finished with 70 points in the tourney en route to being named the MVP.
“I’m not really surprised I was able to play as well as I did in the tournament. I’m just happy for our team,” Mitchell said. “We worked hard to win it and it’s an honor to be recognized with the MVP award.”
Now the attention shifts to Centre in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday in Kentucky.
The Colonels (23-4) are the champions of the Southern Athletic Association tournament and a seasoned NCAA tourney team. Centre is making its seventh appearance in the last eight years and its 16th trip overall.
Interestingly enough, Wallace and Centre head coach Greg Mason played against each other in college when Wallace was at Maryville and Mason was at Centre.
Wallace has a great deal of respect for Mason.
“He has done a tremendous job at Centre and we want to have a program that has been as successful as their program is,” Wallace said. “Centre plays hard, they are a great defensive team and they execute very well. We are excited about getting to play them and we can learn something from this experience no matter what the outcome is.”
Mitchell has certainly gained valuable experience this season as he has gone from role player to star. Early in the season, he was coming off the bench, but once Wallace moved senior Denzel Robinson to point guard, it opened the door for Mitchell to become a starter.
He hasn’t let his coach down, averaging 12.4 points per game. He is shooting 51.1 percent from the field is grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game. Mitchell averaged 7.6 points per outing as a freshman and 8.9 points per game as a sophomore.
“Basically, coach just had a lot of confidence in me, and I’ve run with the opportunity he has given me,” Mitchell said. “I feel confident in the way I am playing and my teammates trust in me. It has made a big difference in the way I have played this season.”
But Mitchell isn’t the only one rising to the occasion. The other four starters are scoring in double figures as well for the Panthers, who are cranking out nearly 90 points per outing (89.2).
Senior post player Patrick Dugger leads the team as he averages 16.8 and 10.2 rebounds per game while sophomore Mark Wagner is clicking for 14 points per outing. Robinson is averaging 13.6 points per game and senior guard Dustin Baxter is averaging 11.9 points per game.
“It’s a big plus to have other guys who can score at any time,” Mitchell said. “We play well together as a team and No one cares who scores. Our focus is on winning games.”
While the Panthers are certainly capable of scoring points, Wallace was asked about the defensive side of the game. His initial reaction to the question was a laugh. After all, his Panthers are allowing 84.7 points per outing.
“We don’t talk much about defense here, which is funny, because I’ve always been a defensive coach,” Wallace said. “We do defensive drills in practice and we really have made improvements, but our focus is on scoring points.”
No matter how things turn out for the Panthers this week, the experience of playing in the NCAA tournament is one that will pay off down the road.
Of course, Mitchell and his teammates aren’t happy with just being invited to the dance.
“Getting here was one of our goals, but we don’t want to be satisfied with just being here,” Mitchell said. “We know how good we can be when we play our best, and we want to win in the tournament. We know we can do it and we are looking forward to the challenge.”