Courage Kenny’s Dixon Not Done Coaching Just Yet
Minnesota Courage Kenny Junior Rolling Timberwolves’ coach Doug Dixon’s final season isn’t done just yet.
He’s been saying goodbye to players, opposing coaches and others, but his team’s making sure he’s still staying on the sidelines a little longer. They’ve still got a shot at a top-five finish in the Junior Varsity Division.
Jack Binsfeld scored a team-high 21 points, while Mckenzie Groth added 12 to lead the Junior Rolling Timberwolves to a 47-41 first-round victory over the No. 12 seed Brooks Bullsharks in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s (NWBA) Junior Varsity Wheelchair Basketball Tournament on Friday, April 5, at the Henrico Sports & Event Center in Glen Allen, Va.
But the No. 4 seed New York Rollin’ Fury defeated Courage Kenny, 63-55, in Friday night’s second round to send them to the consolation bracket rounds.
Courage Kenny made a major comeback in the first-round game. With the team trailing 33-26 against Brooks early in the second half, Dixon was frustrated. He called a timeout and during it challenged players to snap out of their funk, get rid of the nerves and pushed them to be the aggressors.
Binsfeld sure followed that — especially on the offensive end.
Over the next 5 minutes, the Rolling Timberwolves went on a 15-0 run —with Binsfeld playing a key part.
He hit a deep 3-pointer that tied the game at 33-33 with 10 minutes and 43 seconds left, providing the major boost. While he let out a yell and pumped his fist in the air, the scoreboard malfunctioned and set the game back to 0-0 before operators scrambled to fix it.
“He [Coach Dixon] came in, and I kind of knew what he was going to say, but after that I kind of just told myself that I’m going to pull it when it’s open,” says Binsfeld, who was born with spina bifida. “And I pulled that 3, and I think that kind of just kind of released some pressure off a little bit, seeing the ball go in.”
Although the game stopped, the free timeout didn’t slow Minnesota down.
The Junior Rolling Timberwolves scored eight straight points after, including a Groth basket, a basket by Lucas Dean and two Binsfeld baskets.
Then, the Rolling Timberwolves held on. Brooks cut the lead to 43-39 with 4:56 remaining but didn’t get any closer. A University of Illinois wheelchair basketball recruit, Binsfeld scored the Rolling Timberwolves’ final four points, and Minnesota closed out the victory.
Dixon has coached wheelchair basketball for the past 26 seasons — guiding the Minnesota Royals for his first 11 years before leading the Junior Rolling Timberwolves for the last 15.
“It’s kind of a bittersweet thing, but the grind of the road is getting to be too much and just happy to be here and play it out,” Dixon says. “But I need to be done, I think.”
He’s even got a new head coach — former Minnesota Courage Kenny Junior Rolling Timberwolves player and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater star Derrick Bisnett — all lined up.
“The reason I felt comfortable retiring is that I wanted to make sure we had a great replacement, not just a good replacement,” Dixon says. “But he’s a great coach, and I’m excited for the future.”
Free Throws Help Blazers Advance To Prep Semis
Landon Brown was sure excited after helping lift the No. 5 seed Bennett Blazers to the NWBA Prep Division semifinals.
He hit four clutch inside the final minute to lift Bennett to a 28-24 victory over the No. 4 seed Dallas Wheelchair Junior Mavericks Blue team in a Friday afternoon second-round Prep Division game. That helped them advance to play the No. 1 seed LWSRA/Synergy Hawks, who beat the No. 16 seed Music City Thunder (42-12) and No. 8 seed Kansas City Kings (35-17) to advance to the semifinals. Bennett defeated the No. 12 seed Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets, 38-20, in a first-round game.
Tied at 24 against the Dallas Wheelchair Junior Mavericks Blue with less than a minute left, Brown was fouled and hit two free throws with 54.6 seconds remaining to put the Blazers ahead, 26-24. Then, after Dallas missed a shot, he was fouled again with 24.9 seconds left and went 2-of-2 from the foul line to push the Blazers’ lead to 28-24.
The 13-year-old eighth-grader admitted he was a little nervous, but he stayed cool under pressure.
“Staying calm in the moment,” says Brown, who was born with left-sided spatial hemiplegia. “It’s so big. We have a lot of kids moving up to varsity [division] and we want to go out with a win.”
This is Brown’s fifth year in the Prep Division, and he also is playing in the Varsity Division for the second year. He says the team will need to play good defense Saturday.
“Defense is key,” Brown says.
Eldeeb’s First Game-Winner
Racing up court and dribbling the ball, Moustafa Eldeeb took a quick glance at the clock and saw that time in overtime was running out.
With his team trailing by 2 points and less than 3 seconds to go in the extra period of a Prep Division exhibition game, he launched a 3-pointer from the top of the left key.
“It felt off,” says the 12-year-old seventh-grader who was born with spina bifida.
Turns out, he was wrong.
Eldeeb’s 3-pointer swished through the hoop as time expired, and he helped his exhibition team win in overtime Friday afternoon. They celebrated after, as he hit his first-ever game-winning shot.
“I’d say I was shocked,” says Eldeeb, a Staten Island, N.Y., resident.
It was a fitting end to a tight game. Tied at 16-all at the end of regulation, the two teams went to a 2-minute overtime. After the opposing team scored on a contested jump shot with 20 seconds left, Eldeeb got the ball at the 10-second mark, moved up court and hit the buzzer-beater.
National Wheelchair Basketball Association
National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament Championships At Henrico Sports & Events Center in Glen Allen, Va.
Junior Varsity Division
Friday Day 1
First Round
No. 1 Lakeshore Lakers 66, No. 16 Fairfax Falcons 36
No. 8 BlazeSports Junior Hawks Red 55, No. 9 Rancho Halos 48
No. 4 New York Rollin’ Fury 58, No. 13 RHI Racers 38
No. 5 Courage Kenny Junior Rolling Timberwolves 47, No. 12 Brooks Bullsharks 41
No. 6 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks Varsity 1, 56, No. 11 Dallas Junior Mavericks Blue 38
No. 3 Bennett Blazers 60, No. 14 Junior Road Warriors 27
No. 10 Utah Rush 46, No. 7 Kansas City Kings Varsity A 34
No. 2 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets Purple 68, No. 15 WASA Marquette Eagles 40
Second Round
No. 1 Lakeshore Lakers 71, No. 8 BlazeSports Junior Hawks Red 40
No. 4 New York Rollin’ Fury 63, No. 5 Courage Kenny Junior Rolling Timberwolves 55
No. 3 Bennett Blazers 66, No. 6 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks Varsity 1 43
No. 2 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets Purple 65, No. 10 Utah Rush 45
Consolation Bracket
No. 9 Rancho Halos 48, No. 16 Fairfax Falcons 28
No. 13 RHI Racers 44, No. 12 Brooks Bullsharks 42
No. 14 Junior Road Warriors 49, No. 11 Dallas Junior Mavericks Blue 48
No. 7 Kansas City Kings Varsity A 70, No. 15 WASA Marquette Eagles 37
Varsity Invitational Division
Pool Play
No. 32 SAAS Junior Wildcats 50, No. 33 Music City Thunder 18
No. 31 Mississippi Wheelcats 63, No. 34 Ability360 Phoenix Varsity 11
No. 30 ParaSport Spokane Varsity A 32, No. 35 Courage Kenny Junior Rolling Gophers 12
No. 29 Dallas Wheelchair Junior Mavericks White 57, No. 36 Sportable Spokes 11
First Round
No. 17 Mad City Badgers 53, No. 32 SAAS Junior Wildcats 35
No. 24 Adaptive Sports Ohio Cavaliers 39, No. 25 Bridge City Rolling Blazers 28
No. 20 Kansas City Kings Varsity 40, No. 29 Dallas Junior Mavericks White 11
No. 21 DASA Rolling Rams 36, No. 28 Katie’s Komets 12
No. 22 Mary Free Bed Junior Pacers 38, No. 27 Cincinnati Dragons 36
No. 29 Nebraska Red Dawgs 58, No. 30 ParaSport Spokane Varsity A 18
No. 23 Roger C. Peace Rollin’ Tigers 54, No. 26 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks Varsity 2 17
No. 18 Ryan Martin Foundation Trojans 51, No. 31 Mississippi Wheelcats 20
Second Round
No. 17 Mad City Badgers 40, No. 24 Adaptive Sports Ohio Cavaliers 30
No. 1 DASA Rolling Rams 54, No. 20 Kansas City Kings Varsity B 43
No. 22 Mary Free Bed Junior Pacers 38, No. 29 Nebraska Red Dawgs 25
No. 18 Ryan Martin Foundation Trojans 43, No. 23 Roger C. Peace Rollin’ Tigers 30
Consolation Bracket
No. 25 Bridge City Rolling Blazers 43, No. 32 SAAS Junior Wildcats 37
No. 28 Katie’s Komets 33, No. 29 Dallas Junior Mavericks White 29
No. 27 Cincinnati Dragons 47, ParaSport Spokane Varsity A 24
No. 31 Mississippi Wheelcats 52, No. 26 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks Varsity 2 15
Prep Division
First Round
No. 1 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks 42, No. 16 Music City Thunder 12
No. 8 Kansas City Kings 25, No. 9 Fairfax Falcons 22
No. 4 Dallas Wheelchair Junior Mavericks Blue 38, No. 13 Lakeshore Sharks 21
No. 5 Bennett Blazers 38, No. 12 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 20
No. 6 New York Rollin’ Fury 35, No. 11 RHI Junior Racers 22
No. 3 Mary Free Bed Junior Pacers 42, No. 14 Katie’s Komets 22
No. 10 BlazeSports Junior Hawks 24, No. 7 WASA Marquette Eagles 20
No. 2 ATX Austin Wheelchair Basketball 42, No. 15 Cincinnati Dragons 10
Second Round
No. 1 LWSRA/Synergy Hawks 35, No. 8 Kansas City Kings 17
No. 5 Bennett Blazers 28, No. 4 Dallas Wheelchair Junior Mavericks Blue 24
No. 6 New York Rollin’ Fury 28, No. 3 Mary Free Bed Junior Pacers 26
No. 2 ATX Austin Wheelchair Basketball 34, No. 10 BlazeSports Junior Hawks 16
Consolation Bracket
No. 9 Fairfax Falcons 32, No. 16 Music City Thunder 20
No. 12 Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets 45, No. 13 Lakeshore Sharks 31
No. 11 RHI Junior Racers 52, No. 14 Katie’s Komets 26
No. 7 WASA Marquette Eagles 39, No. 15 Cincinnati Dragons 11