FENTON FEATURE: Undefeated Massasoit ready for national tournament opener

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Tournament Game Notes 

by Jim Fenton, The Enterprise

BROCKTON –- The first time the Massasoit Community College women's basketball team went to the national tournament, it was the eighth and final seed.

The Warriors traveled to Rochester, Minnesota, in 2014 with a 16-6 record after winning the Region 21 tournament and lost in the opening round to Rock Valley, 81-62, then dropped two more consolation rounds.

Six years later, Massasoit is back in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 3 tourney, this time in a completely different situation.

The Warriors are the No. 1 seed after going 24-0 and will open against eighth-seeded Cedar Valley College of Lancaster, Texas, on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Rockford, Illinois.

Massasoit, the first undefeated team entering the NJCAA Division 3 tournament since 2010, is three wins away from earning a fourth national championship for the school (two in men's soccer and one in baseball).

"We have two targets on our back being the No. 1 seed and being undefeated as well,″ said second-year coach Mark Leszczyk, who won a national title at Roxbury Community College in 2016. "Those are two pretty large targets. There's a little bit of an incentive for anybody to take down the undefeated team.

"My guess is we'll have a little bit of jitters early. I've seen it many times before. But I think once the game starts and they get in the flow, they'll be fine.″

The Warriors have outscored teams by an average of 93.1-48.4 in piling up 24 wins. They have scored 100 or more points eight times and the margin of victory was below 15 just twice with no team being any closer than 10.

With only one returning player, Alyson Reid, from a team that went 20-3 last season, the Warriors had to come together quickly, and that happened with guards Ty Hawkins (31.6 points per game) and Shardajah Collins (18.1 points and 5.5 steals to lead the nation) the keys.

Also contributing to the success are Reid, Adrianna Grant, Aliza Bell, Mataya Young and Ranasha Fraizer.

"I think what makes our team so great is the different personalities and how we get along with each other,″ said Grant. "We always feed off each other and help and grow off each other every day.″

Cedar Valley and Massasoit had one common opponent, Prince George's Community College of Maryland. The Suns defeated Prince George's twice, 63-62, in the Southeast District final and 75-68, in November while the Warriors won in Maryland on Jan. 15, 79-55.

Cedar Valley leads the nation in Division 3 in 3-point shooting, making 52 percent from long range.

The Suns are the only team in the tournament that is not ranked in the top 15 nationally. The teams that have won seven of the last eight championships are in the field, including Hostos Community College of New York (2018 and 2019), host Rock Valley (2012, 2013, 2015 and 2017) and Northland of Minnesota (2014).

The Massasoit-Cedar Valley winner plays Friday night against either fourth-seeded Northland (20-5) or fifth-seeded North Country of New York (28-3).

"I've never had a championship in my life, so to do that would be big,″ said Grant, who averages 13.2 points and 9.8 rebounds. "I'm fully confident. I believe in my team that we're going to get it done.″

Said Hawkins: "Whatever happens, we'll continue to make people proud. Not everyone gets the chance to do what we're doing. We're really grateful. If we do what we've done before, we'll be successful.″

Jim Fenton may be reached at jfenton@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFenton_ent.