By Jim Bloch
Today through Saturday, fans of women’s basketball can catch a dozen games between some of the best junior college teams in the country in Port Huron.
St. Clair County Community College is launching the Thumbcoast Tip-Off Basketball Tournament, Nov. 14-16 at the SC4 Fieldhouse.
“A total of 12 games will be played at the SC4 Fieldhouse Thursday through Saturday, featuring six teams ranked in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II rankings, and another that is receiving votes,” said Sarah Rutallie, senior vice president and chief of staff of the college, in a press release.
Game times are 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, with the championship game at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Placement games precede the championship showdown at noon, 2 and 4 p.m. SC4 plays Harcum College, from Bryn Mawr, Pa. at 7 p.m. Thursday.
SC4’s team, coached by Mike Groulx, is ranked No. 21. The other ranked teams are No. 3 Mesa Community College, Mesa, AZ; No. 4 CCBC Essex, Rossville, Md.; No. 7 Lake Land College, Mattoon, Ill.; No. 11 Mid Michigan College, Harrison, MI; and No. 18 Harcum College. Lansing Community College and Edison State Community College, from Piqua, Ohio are not ranked.
The SC4 roster includes Precious Fields, 5’10”, from Detroit; Nadiyah Walsh, 5’7”, Montrose; Sylver Bowles 5’4”, Ypsilanti; Iliana Williams, 5’10”, Port Huron; Bre Jefferson, 5’4”, Toledo; Ava Grant, 5’10”, Marysville; Mackenzie Royal-Davis, 5’11”, Toledo; Bailey Gormley, 5’8”, Attica; Ti’Syn Callahan, 5’8”, Southfield; Jakyra McCarty, 6’0”, Detroit; Kamari Dabbs, 5’5”, Southgate; Adrien Collins, 5’4”; Marysville; and Amanda Kitchen, 6’2”, Romeo.
Last year, Mesa finished third at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament; CCBC Essex finished fourth; Harcum was eighth.
“SC4 provides a college experience in downtown Port Huron,” said SC4 President Kirk Kramer in a statement. “Hosting an elite women’s college basketball tournament is part of providing an all-around college life and atmosphere for students and residents. Our Skippers team will have an opportunity to compete against the best competition in the country and our fans have an opportunity to witness first-hand the quality level of talent resident in community colleges. Teams and fans from across the country will see for themselves what we appreciate about our area.”
Daily tickets are $10. A ticket for all three days is $25 for a three-day pass. Advance tickets may be purchased at sc4skippers.com/fanzone/ticketing.
“On top of the exciting on-court action, women’s basketball Hall of Famer Juliene Brazinski Simpson will be on hand to perform ceremonial jump balls prior to games and address the coaches and athletes,” said Rutallie. “Brazinski Simpson was a co-captain on the 1976 US Olympic Women’s Basketball Team, which won a silver medal. She also won a gold medal with the US National Team at the 1975 Pan Am Games.”
Sponsors of the Thumbcoast Tip-Off include Discover the Blue, McLaren Port Huron, LiUNA Local 1075, SEMCO Energy, Troy Cleaners, DoubleTree Port Huron, Standard Office Supply, Buffalo Wild Wings, All-Star Services, ThumbCoast Realty, LLC, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling, Earl Smith Distributing Co., 4Sports, Body Armor and Casey’s.
Jim Bloch is a freelance writer based in St. Clair, Michigan. Contact him at bloch.jim@gmail.com.
