Tournament Central

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – After securing the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 2 Men’s Basketball regular season title last season, the Kansas City Kansas Community College men’s basketball team saw their season end abruptly in the NJCAA Region 6 Division 2 Tournament as the top-seeded Blue Devils were upset by fourth-seeded Fort Scott Community College. This season, KCKCC made the most of another opportunity in the postseason by overcoming an eight-point first-half deficit to hit a game-winning shot with 19 seconds remaining to advance to the Region 6 Tournament title game before more heroics saw a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left lift the Blue Devils to their first title and National Tournament berth since 2020.

Entering postseason play on a five-game winning streak and having lost just twice since the calendar turned to 2025, KCKCC hit the 25-win mark for the first time since 2011 while winning their third NJCAA Region 6 Tournament Title since 2016 and fourth in program history to extend their winning streak to eight games. The Blue Devils will enter the NJCAA Division 2 National Tournament with a 25-8 overall record, with six of their eight losses coming to teams that are currently ranked or receiving votes while also seeing the losses come by an average margin of eight points per game.

Cruising to a 92-56 home victory in the opening round of the Region 6 Tournament against Neosho County Community College, KCKCC found themselves in a battle from the opening tip on Friday night against three seed Highland Community College as the Scotties were looking to advance to the Region 6 title game for the first time since 2019. Trailing by as many as five throughout much of the opening half, the Blue Devils saw HCC go on a 6-0 run towards the end of the half to grow their lead to eight before scoring the final four points of the half to get back within four at intermission. In the second half, Kansas City Kansas continued to stay within striking distance as the lead again would never grow to more than eight before seeing a BJ Stewart layup tie the game at 68-68 with 1:26 remaining. A missed three by Highland on the ensuing possession opened the door for the Blue Devils as Ta’Veaion Washington hit a shot in the paint with 26 seconds left to give KCKCC their first lead since the 16:27 mark of the first half. Following a timeout by the Scotties, a potential game-winning three was put up by Highland with two seconds remaining and missed off the rim to allow the Blue Devils to survive and move on.

Following the grind that was Friday night and having a quick turnaround with tip-off for the Championship game just 18 hours later, Kansas City Kansas did not let the short rest bother them against top-seeded Johnson County as the Blue Devils shot 45.5 percent from the floor in the first half and led by as many as nine in the opening 20 minutes to take a 38-35 lead into halftime after Jeremiah Lewis hit a buzzer-beating three. In the second half, KCKCC withstood an early run from the Cavaliers that put the Blue Devils in a 46-42 hole by responding with a 12-0 run to reclaim the lead 54-46 and put JCCC in their largest deficit of the game at 60-48 on a Camron Williford triple with 10:15 remaining. The game was far from over, however as Johnson County quickly cut into the lead by scoring the next nine points as part of a 12-2 run that brought the Cavaliers back within two at 62-60 with just over seven minutes remaining.

Down the stretch, the lead for either team was no bigger than four points as Johnson County continued to chip away and eventually tie things at 68-68 with 1:53 remaining before taking a 71-70 lead on a Joey Robinson trey with 1:19 left in the contest. Second-chance points allowed Kansas City Kansas to take the lead once more with 29 seconds left as a Darren McHenry offensive rebound led to an eventual Washington layup before seeing JCCC call a timeout and draw up a play that led to a go-ahead layup for Brandon Mann with 26 seconds left. Johnson County’s Stevens Samuels committed a foul on the ensuing offensive possession for Kansas City Kansas with 10 seconds left, which sent Williford to the line where the sophomore sank both free throws to put the Blue Devils back up 74-73. JCCC used their final timeout to try and ice Williford before the second free-throw as well as draw up a potential game-winning play which saw Cavalier guard Gavin Harvey unable to get the ball to Mann and instead handing the ball off to Robinson who saw a deep elbow three miss long and fall to the floor as time expired.

Both Washington and forward Israel Randle were named to the All-Tournament team with Washington being named NJCAA Region 6 Division 2 Tournament Most Valuable Player saw different players step up in both games to come away with the victories with the season on the line. Free throw shooting also proved to be crucial throughout the weekend, with the Blue Devils going 12-12 at the line in the championship game as part of a combined 27-31 effort across the weekend that saw the two games won by a combined three points.  

Kansas City, Kansas will now wait to find out their seed and first round opponent in the NJCAA Division 2 Men’s Basketball National Tournament, which is set to take place March 17-22 inside the Mary Miller Center in Danville, Illinois. Johnson County will hope for their season to be extended by one of the four at-large berths to join the 20-team field in Danville after making the National Tournament twice in the past three seasons.

2025 NJCAA Region 6 Division 2 Men’s Basketball All-Tournament Team
Ta'Veaion Washington – KCKCC (Tournament MVP)
Javontae Costner - Allen
Tavian Tate - Highland
Tavian Cruse - Johnson County
Joey Robinson - Johnson County
Israel Randle – KCKCC