Three players named to All Tournament Team
OCALA—The Chipola Indians (22-8) finished as runner-up in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Men’s Basketball Tournament, falling 92-67 to Panhandle Conference foe Northwest Florida State in the championship game of the tournament on March 10.
It was the teams’ fourth meeting of the season with Chipola winning only one of those matchups, a 98-91 homecoming win on Feb. 17.
Chipola head coach Bret Campbell, said, “We’re proud of our guys. We were a little short-handed and ran out of steam in the championship game, but I thought we battled well in the state tournament.”
Three Chipola players were named to the All-Tournament Team: Brandon Mahan, Shamarkus Kennedy and JJ Miles.
Chipola trounced St. Petersburg 93-72 in the semi-final round of the tournament on March 9.
The Indians beat Eastern Florida State 77-63 in the opening round on March 7. Brandon Mahan led the Indians with 26 points. Deric Patton scored 18. Keishawn Brewton scored 14. Shamarkus Kennedy had 9 blocks on the night. During the broadcast, announcers referred to the Indians as the “magnificent seven,” as only seven players dressed out for the game.
Coach Campbell said he’s hot on the recruiting trail and focused on helping his current players finish well in the classroom. Campbell, said, “The percentage of our sophomores who move up to Division 1 is among the highest in the country. We are very proud to create opportunities for student-athletes to move on and play at the next level.”