Believe it: Bluejays capture league title
Tabor men down
Sterling for KCAC crown
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
A month ago, talking about the Bluejays defending their KCAC title was about as realistic as talk of an African country fielding an ice hockey team in the Olympics.
Tabor's conference schedule opened rocky, going 4-4 and blowing games within its reach.
Nobody was hotter than the Bluejays the last half of the season, winning 10 straight games to stay focused on defending the title and qualifying for next month's NAIA Big Dance in Branson.
Standing in Tabor's way Thursday, in front of a packed house at Tabor's gym, was the last team to beat the Bluejays Jan. 15 — the Sterling Warriors.
The Bluejays (20-8, 14-4 KCAC) got some retribution, holding off the Warriors Thursday, 53-48, and Ottawa two nights later also in Hillsboro, 64-56.
Even Tabor coach Don Brubacher was surprised by his team getting a ticket to the NAIA National Tournament.
"No, not at all (expecting Tabor to return)," he said. "Number one, I think we're playing a lot harder than we did when we were struggling. There's a lot more effort on the court. We are simply remembering a lot more details of the game.
"I did not see it coming. The way we were playing at that point in the year, we were hoping we would find a way to win one game here and there," Coach Brubacher said.
The Warriors' unique style of offense stresses three-point shooting, much like Tabor found out in the 69-59 hiccup in January.
Sterling got 14 looks from downtown, but only could convert on four the first half and 7-of-24 for the game.
Three-point shooting was big in the Warriors leading throughout most of the first half.
Hampered all night with sub-par shooting and disputable officiating, Brad Gattis got the Bluejays over the hump briefly in the game's first 5:00.
Tabor then spent the remainder of the half trying to catch up.
The Bluejays finished the physical contest hitting 46 percent from the floor and 30 from outside.
Tabor had to battle back from six-point deficits twice before James Black trimmed the lead to 20-19 as part of four unanswered points with 7:47 left before half.
Martin deBoer scored a game-high 18 points, pouring in 12 the second half.
The Lawrence senior drained a jumper with just over 30 seconds left in the half to pull the Bluejays to 26-24 at the break.
Particularly stinging to Brubacher were 10 offensive rebounds surrendered to the Warriors and Tabor hitting a worthless 35 percent at the free throw line.
Gattis' game-high nine rebounds helped the Bluejays hammer Sterling, 45-32, though.
The Warriors held on to the lead 1:55 longer until Andy Brubacher flushed a triple and drew a foul in the process.
Andy's four-point play got Tabor over the hill for good despite Mandrae Collins settling the score at 30 on the next possession.
The four-point play tripped a 9-2 run for the Bluejays that stretched their lead to 38-30 barely 7:00 into the second half.
With 8:13 left and Tabor clinging for dear life to a 39-37 lead, deBoer took over the game.
Pounding his way inside, he scored four straight baskets to keep the Warriors in the rear view mirror.
"We were looking for any advantage we could gain down the stretch," Don Brubacher said. "Our offense is basically an equal opportunity offense and when we started going to Martin, it was not because there was a focus there.
"We were moving the ball and he got some great position and we had some nice passing to him at the right time and he took advantage to it."
Eric Tucker's free throw at the 4:25 mark got Sterling as close as 45-43, but it never jeopardized the Bluejay lead again.
Playing at less than 100 percent after battling the flu, Grant Brubacher scored on a fast break with :11 left to slam the door on Sterling and secure the Bluejay ticket to Branson.
"We were fortunate for a number of reasons, and the way we shot from the free throw line is one of the primary reasons," said Don Brubacher. "The second was that Grant had the flu the last few days.
"Our game does revolve around him to a significant extent, so his inability to play with the strength that is typical for him hurt us a lot."
The Bluejays hosted the Friends Falcons Wednesday night in the first round of the KCAC tournament. The Falcons kept the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes winless on the season with a 71-59 win Monday night.
Pending a Tabor victory, the Bluejays will be in action Saturday in Hillsboro against the winner of Bethany and Southwestern at 2 p.m.
