MGCCC men begin MACJC title defense

Jeremiah Dunnings is one of 8 sophomores hoping for back-to-back MACJC titles.

The last time Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College won back-to-back MACJC basketball titles, Bob Weathers was the Bulldogs head coach, and Bill Clinton was elected President.

Fast forward to 2012, where Gulf Coast is headed to the MACJC Tournament as the defending State champs and the South’s #1 seed. Gulf Coast, the NJCAA’S 17th ranked team, takes its 19-4 record into the tournament quarterfinals against host team Itawamba (9-13), the North No. 4seed, Monday at 6 p.m. in Fulton. At stake is a shot at back-to-back State titles for the first time since 1991-92.

“There are eight very good teams in this tournament, so you’ve got to be on the top of your game if you want to win this thing,” said Wendell Weathers, Gulf Coast head basketball coach. “Our goal is to win three in a row, but to do that we’ve got to be mentally ready to play. The team that does not want to quit playing is the team that will survive.”

The Bulldogs begin the title defense on a two-game losing skid. Although Gulf Coast dropped games at Southwest and athome against Pearl River, Weathers hopes that will serve as a wake-up call heading into the post-season.

“We’ve had a very good year and these kids have played very hard,” he said. “Naturally you want to win each game, but at the same time, you’re not going to win them all. That’s the reality of it. Hopefully these last two losses will help us re-focus.”

Before the two setbacks, Gulf Coast had won 15 in a row and was undefeated against MACJC competition. That includes twovictories against Itawamba, one on the road (76-67 on Nov. 10), and one at home (70-50 on Nov. 17).

“The real strength of our team is its depth,” Weathers added. “We’ve got 11 really good players that like one another, work hard everyday, and play together. Going into the tournament, our depth is going to have to get us through.”

The men’s bracket of the 2012 MACJC Tournament schedule looks like this:

QUARTERFINALS/Feb. 27
(North #1) East Mississippi vs. (South #4) Jones: Monday – 1:00 PM
(South #2) Pearl River vs. (North #3) Northwest: Monday – 3:00 PM
(South #1) Gulf Coast vs. (North #4) Itawamba: Monday – 6:00 PM
(North #2) Holmes vs. (South #2) Hinds: Monday – 8:00 PM

SEMI-FINALS---Wednesday, Feb. 29 at 3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
FINALS---Thursday, Mar. 1 at 8 p.m.