By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information
Lights! Camera! Action!
The 2015 NJCAA Women’s and Men’s National Basketball Tournaments begin this morning at 10 a.m. The women’s tournament is being played at the Bicentennial Center here in Salina, Kan.. and the men’s tournament in at The Sports Arena in Hutchinson, which is about 50 miles southwest of Salina.
TVCC has double representation this year with both the Lady Cardinals, who have won the past three national titles and have played in the last four national title games, and Cardinals, who last year advanced to the Elite 8, on hand.
This will mark the fifth time in school history both teams are at the national tournament the same year. The previous four years were 1982, 1995, 1999 and 2014.
The Lady Cardinals (29-3) qualified for an eighth straight year by winning the Region XIV Tournament championship. The Cardinals (27-4 received an at-large berth after closing the regular season with 14 straight wins and falling to Tyler in the quarterfinals of the Region XIV Tournament.
Though the national tournaments begin today, both the Lady Cards and Cardinals will spectators. In fact, the Lady Cards don’t play their first game until Wednesday at 5 p.m. The 11th-seeded Cardinals are scheduled to play at noon Tuesdayagainst No. 22-seed Monroe (24-8). The Lady Cards will face the No. 14 Eastern Arizona (27-4) vs. No 19 Wallace State (27-5) winner in their first game.
First-year Lady Card head coach Gerald Ewing is making this third appearance at the national tournament, having served on Elena Lovato’s staff the past two years in national championship runs.
Third-year Cardinal head coach Kris Baumann is making his third appearance at the tournament. In 2009, the guided Garden City to a sixth-place finish, going 2-2 in the event.
The Lady Cards are making their 20th appearance at the tournament — 13th time in Salina, which is hosting the tournament for the last time. The tournament heads to Lubbock for at least three years, starting in 2016. The Lady Cards are 57-16 in national tournament games and owners of eight national titles (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2014).
The Cardinals are 10-5 in national tournament games in their previous four trips to Hutch. In addition to last year’s Elite 8 finish, they finished third in 1982, seventh in 1995 and eighth in 1999.
TVCC is one of five schools with teams in both tournaments, joining Tyler, Hutchinson, Southern Idaho and Northwest Florida State.
All Cardinal and Lady Cardinal tournament games will be availabe for viewing online at www.njcaatv.ihigh.com. In fact, all tournament games will be webcast.
Of course you can also keep up with the progress of the Lady Cardinals at the tournament in the Athens Daily Review. The Review is represented at the tournament by sports writer Joe Elerson. Check out the Review’s coverage online atwww.athensreview.com.
Gas prices are significantly lower this year for the 524-mile trip to Salina. Last year they were at at $3.35. The average price this year (as of Sunday) is $2.25. The lowest price spotted for regular unleaded was $2.12. The highest was $2.49. Here are the average prices the last 10 trips to Salina:
2004 — $1.67
2006 — $2.42
2008 — $3.11
2009 — $1.79
2010 — $2.67
2011 — $3.39
2012 — $3.65
2013 — $3.46
2014 — $3.35
2015 — $2.25
It’s 54 and partly cloudy in Salina this morning. Today’s high is expected to reach a record 85 with a lot of sun and wind. A cold front is expected tonight and tomorrow’s high is expected to be 61. Wednesday is forecast to be the coolest day of the week with a high of 52. Temperatures are expected to be back in the 70s to close the week.
To all our family and friends back home, have a great start to the week.