Notes, observations and other thoughts about basketball played at 38th and Central...

Women's basketball at NJCAA Division II National Tournament at Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on campus on Missouri Southern University in Joplin, Missouri.
Quarterfinal matchup
#7 Morton College (31-3) vs. #2 Kirkwood (32-2)
Game time: 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21^st
Broadcast: NJCAA Network ($12 per day pass, $35 for tournament)

Kirkwood's an eight-time NJCAA Division II champion with the Eagles' last title coming in 2022 at Morton College's expense with a 49-44 win in the championship game in Port Huron, MI.

Morton College encounters another extremely balanced squad with four players averaging double figures and two others at 7 points per game. Kirkwood coach Kim Muhl has over 1,000 career wins and is certainly worthy of a place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Morton College is riding a 20-game win streak, while Kirkwood has won 18 straight. Morton College and Kirkwood have the most wins combined (63) of any of the four quarterfinalists.

How they advanced
Morton College 87 Harcum 72
Kirkwood 90 Lake Land 69

All about Kirkwood
Points per game (offense): 79.2 – 11^th nationally
Points per game (defense): 50.7 – 7^th nationally

Top players
Demetria Prewitt (5-10 sophomore forward) – 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 53.7% FG
Jenna Twedt (5-8 freshman guard) – 14.1 points, 3.2 assists, 90.2% FT
Kaylee Corbin (6-0 sophomore forward) – 10.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 51.9% FG
Emily Dreckman (5-10 sophomore guard) – 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds
Lizzy Puot (6-1 freshman forward) – 7.1 points, 4.0 rebounds
Zhakyla Evans (5-9 sophomore guard) – 7.0 points, 5.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds

All about Morton College
Points per game (offense) – 88.2 – 5^th nationally
Points per game (defense) – 50.0 – 3^rd nationally

Top players
Brynne Katcher (6-0 freshman forward) – 14.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 59 blocks
Nariah Clay (5-10 freshman guard) – 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 100 three-pointers
Sophia Remmel (5-6 freshman guard) – 12.6 points, 3.0 assists, 85 three-pointers
Alex Stewart (5-8 freshman guard) – 11.2 points, 4.1 rebounds
Shanihya Brown (5-4 sophomore guard) – 10.5 points, 2.1 steals, 56.4% FG
Antionique Auston (5-9 freshman forward) – 8.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 steals
Taylor Marquart (5-11 sophomore forward) – 8.2 points, 7.5 rebounds
Caroline Clemmer (5-7 sophomore guard) – 7.6 points

Flashback to 2021-22
A lot of parallels between the 2021-22 national runners-up and the 2023-24 Morton College teams:
Entered the tournament with a No. 7 seed
Won first-round game against a team from the East – Harcum of PA this year and Union County of NJ in 2022.
Faced No. 2 seed in quarterfinals – Johnson County (2022) and Kirkwood (2024).
 
Perfect 10
The Panthers are now 10-0 when five players reach double figures. Antionique Auston posted her eighth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in Morton College's 87-72 win over Harcum. Brynne Katcher added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Sophia Remmel chipped in with 11 points and three assists. Alex Stewart and Nariah Clay led the Panthers with 18 points.

"You know what?," Morton College coach Jeff Bambule said. "It was a team effort. We definitely didn't play our best, but there were people that stepped up when we needed them to step up. That's the strength of our team. Different people step up on different nights."

Region IV success story
This is the third straight year Region IV will have two teams in the quarterfinals. Morton College has advanced the past three years, while Bryant & Stratton moved on in 2022 and 2023. Undefeated Rock Valley (34-0) faces Mesa in Wednesday's quarterfinal round of eight.

Four in Region IV
Morton College's 102-59 win over Carl Sandburg in the Region IV Midwest District A championship game gave the Panthers their program-record fourth straight Region IV crown.
 
30 times 3
This season, Morton College reached the 30-win mark for the third consecutive time, a first in program history. The Panthers won 30 games in 2022, 34 in 2023 and now 31 in 2024.
 
They're all here…
The three teams Morton College lost to during the regular season? They all made it into the field at the NJCAA Division II nationals.
 
Here they are….
#6 seed Mesa – Lost 77-71 November 11, 2023
#15 seed Lake Land – Lost 64-58 December 2, 2023
#17 seed North Central Missouri – Lost 68-60 December 15, 2023
 
Morton College at nationals
2021
Qualified, didn't participate
 
2022 (2^nd)
Union County W 56-52 (first round)
Johnson County W 62-57 (quarterfinals)
CCBC Essex W 84-72 (semifinals)
Kirkwood L 49-44 (championship)

2023 (5^th)
United Tribes W 78-47 (first round)
Richard Bland L 69-63 (quarterfinals)
Johnson County W 69-55 (fifth-place semifinals)
Bryant & Stratton W 69-61 (fifth place)
 
2024
Harcum W 87-72 (first round)
 
Team leaders
Double-figure games
Nariah Clay – 27
Brynne Katcher – 23
Shanihya Brown & Sophia Remmel – 22
Alex Stewart – 20
Antionique Auston – 18
Caroline Clemmer – 14
Taylor Marquart – 11

Double-double games
Brynne Katcher – 13
Antionique Auston – 8
Nariah Clay – 5
Taylor Marquart – 3
Alex Stewart – 2

20-point games
Brynne Katcher – 11
Nariah Clay – 7
Sophia Remmel – 6
Alex Stewart – 3
Antionique Auston & Caroline Clemmer – 1

Games with a 3-pointers
Nariah Clay – 31
Sophia Remmel – 29
Caroline Clemmer – 25
Alex Stewart – 24
Antionique Auston – 20
Brynne Katcher – 17
Shanihya Brown – 12
 
400-point club
Brynne Katcher – 479
Nariah Clay – 473
Sophia Remmel – 425
 
300-point club
Alex Stewart – 380
Shanihya Brown – 348
Antionique Auston – 304
 
200-point club
Caroline Clemmer - 256
Taylor Marquart – 254

Getting the hang of things
Reverse transfers Shanihya Brown and Caroline Clemmer have emerged as the season went along.

Brown is ranked 15^th in the NJCAA Division II in field-goal percentage at 56.8 percent. After a slow start in November, Shanihya has made 63.2 percent (108 of 171) of her shots the past four months.
 
Clemmer's 48 three-pointers is third on team. She carries a 12-game streak of making a three-pointer entering the Panthers' quarterfinal contest against Kirkwood.
 
Badger brigade
The numbers by Taylor Marquart of Fort Atkinson, WI and Antionique Auston of Sun Prairie, WI are pretty similar – Marquart (8.2 points/7.5 rebounds) and Auston (8.9 points/7.5 rebounds).
 
Both are playing their best late in the season. Marquart's perfect second quarter with 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting from three enabled the Panthers to pull away from Carl Sandburg 102-59 in the Region IV finals, while Auston dropped 20 points in just 26 minutes in Morton College's 99-63 Region IV semifinal victory over Prairie State.
 
In addition to registering her eighth double-double of the season in Harcum win, Auston's also made two or more three-pointers in Morton College's last seven games.
 
Just like old times
Tournament operations director Shaun Buck has fond memories of MC baseball alum Wayne Wente, who went on to play at Missouri Southern State University in the 1990s. The baseball players officiated youth basketball games in the Joplin community and Shaun remembered Wayne from that, saying, "I was just a little squirt and Wayne was one of my favorites."
 
Lake Land coach David Jackson coached Hannah Wolff, the wife of MC assistant coach Tony Smith, from 2002 to 2004. Jackson and Smith met as the teams were exchanging practice gym times on St. Patrick's Day Sunday.
 
Panther ties to Missouri Southern
Wayne Wente isn't the only ex-Panther baseball player with ties to Missouri Southern. Along with Wente were Dominick Schullo and Rick Lapka, who played there in 1993 and '94.
 
Wayne coached his son's team in Elmhurst to the Little League Midwest Region title game last summer. He also was an All-American in 1994.
 
Rick Lapka pitched in the minors for three seasons in the Cincinnati Reds system and one in independent baseball. Schullo returned home to Cicero where he is the town's Deputy Superintendent for the police department.
 
Their former teammate – Bryce Darnell – is the current head baseball coach at Missouri Southern.