South Suburban College sophomore guard Camron Donatlan says he remembers the play well.
Perhaps too well.
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“I still have nightmares about it,” he said.
Many championship teams experience an “uh-oh” moment or two along the way. One of Donatlan’s close friends and former West Aurora teammates gave South Suburban a big one. But it turned out to be a good thing for the Bulldogs.
In the final seconds of the NJCAA Division II Region 4 championship game on March 5, Waubonsee’s Traevon Brown heaved up a desperation 3-point attempt. The ball hit the glass but didn’t fall through the net, allowing the Bulldogs to escape with a 74-73 victory.
South Suburban advanced to the national tournament in Danville and won the title Saturday night with a 79-63 victory against Davidson-Davie of North Carolina, becoming the first unbeaten champion in NJCAA Division II history.
But if Brown had made that shot …
“I think about that,” Donatlan said during a celebration in South Suburban’s gym in South Holland on Sunday. “Traevon is like my little brother. He spends the night at my house. That just would have been tough on me.”
Instead, the Bulldogs (33-0) were given new life and made the most of it, winning four games at nationals by an average margin of 20.5 points.
“That game made us realize that in this tournament, anything can happen,” Donatlan said of the scare against Waubonsee. “We had to realize that no one is going to just come in and let us roll.”
Freshman guard Damarco Minor, a Thornton graduate who was named MVP of the national tournament, said the Bulldogs buckled down.
“We said that no game should be that close, and every game after that wasn’t that close,” he said.
The Bulldogs opened the national tournament March 15 with an 87-52 victory against Florida Gateway. Freshman forward Damontae Taylor, a Zion-Benton graduate, led the way with 30 points and 14 rebounds.
“This is the first time I’ve ever won something like this,” Taylor said. “I’ve won a regional championship before. But every time it got real serious, I never really made it out to where I needed to be.”
Donatlan scored 28 points and Minor had 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists in an 82-63 victory against Lakeland on March 16.
Two days later, Donatlan had 30 points and 10 rebounds in a 69-57 semifinal victory against defending champion Des Moines Area.
In the championship game, Minor had 29 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Donatlan added 20 points.
Donatlan, Taylor and Nmesomachi Nnebedum were named to the all-tournament team.
Coach John Pigatti credits strong defense for the Bulldogs’ ability to bring home their first national championship in their 12th trip to the tournament. He also marveled that 11 transfers were able to blend together.
That includes Minor, who spent a season at Milwaukee Area Technical College after his senior season at Thornton was cut short. The Wildcats (32-1) were poised for a run at the 2020 Class 4A state title when sectional championship games were canceled by the Illinois High School Association at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
South Suburban’s national championship helps make up for it.
“Man, this is crazy,” Minor said. “I wouldn’t have enjoyed this as much as I did if I didn’t go through that heartbreak situation in high school. I’m just thankful right now.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
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