Eagles are new NWBA Division I champs
The WASA Marquette Eagles and their huge group of U.S. Paralympic men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball team medalists came out ahead — by just enough.
Now, they’re the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Adult Division I national wheelchair basketball tournament champions.
U.S. Paralympic men’s wheelchair basketball team gold medalist Jeromie Meyer hit the go-ahead shot with 33 seconds remaining, and three-time U.S. Paralympic men’s wheelchair basketball team gold medalist Jake Williams added two free throws for extra insurance to lift the No. 2-seeded WASA Marquette Eagles to a 66-62 victory over the No. 1-seeded and defending Adult Division I champ Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks at the Henrico Sports & Events Center in Glen Allen, Va.
Before making that shot, Meyer had gone just 1-of-8 from the field.
“It was just we followed our game plan and just kind of understood where the rotation was going to be. And knowing the defense, fully committed to the middle, I knew it was a two-on- one and that had to be the shot for sure,” says Meyer, who scored four points. “Even though I was ice-cold all game, I knew there was going to be one. I had to can it. It was going to be that one.”
WASA has seven U.S. men’s and women’s Paralympic wheelchair basketball medalists on its team, including Jeremy Lade, Matt Lesperance, Talen Jourdan, Meyer and Williams from the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team and Becca Murray and Emily Oberst from the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team.
WIlliams led WASA with a game-high 27 points and had seven rebounds. Drew Selz added 14 points and eight rebounds. Oberst had nine points and six rebounds, while Lade had eight points and six rebounds, and Drew Beutel and Murray each added two points.
It also capped Lade’s weekend after he was inducted into the NWBA Hall of Fame on Saturday night. And for Murray, it now gives her a gold medal at every level. She has won seven NWBA Women’s Division national titles, four Parapan American Games gold medals, three college national championships (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater), two Paralympic gold medals, one women’s world championship, one NWBA Junior Nationals title and now the NWBA Adult Division I title.
“I mean, this is like your typical storybook moment, right, where there’s so many Paralympic medalists here?” Meyer says. “We’ve got a bunch of guys who have not won an NWBA championship yet. Becca Murray needed her last game to complete all her championships. And then, to add it on top, we had a hall of famer [with Lade]. And it’s great to send him out in the blaze of glory like this.”
Luka Buksa led Dallas with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Fabian Romo, a U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball Paralympic gold medalist himself, had 14 points and six rebounds and Blake McMinn had 12 points and eight rebounds. John McPhail and James Ross each had six points and two rebounds apiece, and Josie DeHart had four points.
Free Throws Lift Hawks To Adult Division II Title
With less than 11 seconds left and the LWSRA Synergy Hawks clinging to a one-point lead, Matthew Talbot headed to the free-throw line.
If the No. 4 seed was going to keep its National Wheelchair Basketball Association Adult Division II title hopes alive, he had to make both attempts.
That’s when the middle school basketball coach reminded himself what he tells his players.
“I tell them, ‘That’s your bread and butter. You’ve got to get it down,’” Talbot says. “I’m preaching them free throws win championships. So, I thought about that and I was like, ‘I’ve got to make it count now. It’s now or never.’ So, that’s what was going through my mind. Just I preach it all the time. So, I’m like, actions gotta speak louder than words now.”
With 10.1 seconds remaining, Talbot sank both foul shots to put the Hawks up three, and No. 4-seeded LWSRA hung on for a 68-63 victory Saturday afternoon over the No. 3 seed Cincinnati Dragons in the Adult Division II title game.
After rallying from an eight-point deficit inside the final minute and winning on Miles Hill’s buzzer-beating layup in a Saturday semifinal game against the top-seeded Tampa Bay Strong Dogs, the Hawks finished off another close one.
Talbot scored 18 points and had six rebounds — and went 3-of-4 from the foul line inside the final 32 seconds — and was named the Adult Division II tournament’s MVP. Coach/player Thomas Duffy scored a game-high 28 points and had two rebounds, as the Hawks rode his hot hand in the first half. He went 6-of-11 from 3-point range, including 4-of-8 in the first two quarters. Hill added 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Kaitlyn Eaton had four points.
Trailing 61-55 with 5 minutes and 11 seconds left, Cincinnati rallied. Gabe Taylor (team-highs of 23 points and nine rebounds) hit a driving layup, Spencer Heslop (14 points and five rebounds) followed with a layup of his own, and Jaime Mazzi (16 points and three rebounds) hit 1-of-2 free throws to trim the deficit to 61-60 with 3:12 to go.
But Hill hit a tough inside hoop with the shot clock winding down to give LWSRA a 63-60 lead with 1:25 remaining. Cincinnati had one more rally, cutting the lead to 64-63 with 11.4 seconds left on a Heslop hoop. But Talbot hit those key free throws, and the Dragons had an inbounds turnover before Duffy made two more foul shots for the final margin.
Steven Olson added nine points and seven rebounds, and Herbert Henry had one point and one rebound for Cincinnati.
Talbot says the team is made up of former University of Illinois wheelchair basketball players, and it was special.
“We’ve kind of all went our different ways, but we come together for these games,” he says. “So, although we don’t get to practice as much as we would like together, we’re still very familiar with how each other plays. And we get to show that when we all come on the same court.”
Outlaws’ Division Upset, Title Run Complete
It was a full-circle finish for Tyler Malone.
After starting the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Adult Division III Texas Outlaws team two years ago, the player/coach has helped mold them into champs.
Owen Horsley finished with a double-double and game-highs of 27 points and 13 rebounds, while Mark Ramirez added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Florin Nita had 11 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 9-seeded Outlaws to a 56-41 NWBA Adult Division III championship game victory Sunday morning over the No. 2 Shepherd Stealers.
In just its first year competing in the Adult Division III tournament and in just the program’s second year overall, Texas earned a title. Malone, who also serves as coach for the Dallas Junior Wheelchair Mavericks in the NWBA’s Junior Varsity Division, says they have four current junior players on the roster and six former Wheelchair Mavericks on the team. It made the title that much sweeter.
“It’s a testament to the hard work we put in and the dedication to playing the game the right way, trusting each other and understanding that defense really does win championships,” says Malone, who scored two points and had one rebound. “But it all it all starts on the defensive end to get us out in transition. We get those defensive rebounds, hit our outlets, and it’s off to the races. Our speed is our best friend, and it has been all weekend.”
Texas knocked off the No. 8-seeded Cap City Cardinals (38-28), No. 1-seeded Cleveland Wheelchair Cavaliers (59-54) and No. 4-seeded Brooks Ballers (46-42), along with taking down the No. 2-seeded Stealers in the title game.
The Outlaws jumped out early, racing to a 19-5 lead after the first quarter, thanks to a 14-0 run. Horsley scored six points during it, while Ramirez and Nita had four each.
They increased it 33-18 at halftime and 43-27 after three quarters, with their defense keeping the Stealers in check.
Cherronte Watts led Shepherd with team-highs of 16 points and seven rebounds. He was the only Stealers player to score in double figures. Texas held Shepherd’s Khalil Harriott, the team’s leading semifinal scorer, to nine points on just 4-of-12 shooting.
David Snowden (five points and one rebound), Corey Butler (five points and two rebounds), LaDarien Harris (three rebounds), Michael Rowe (one rebound) and Ruth Morrison (one rebound) also contributed for Shepherd.
Sydney Durr added two points and a rebound, while Jeraldo Henry Jr., also added two points for Texas.
Malone sustained a level T4 complete spinal cord injury from an ATV accident in 2000 in Texas. He’s played wheelchair basketball for the past 17 years and couldn’t have been more thrilled to share the success with all the players.
“So, it’s really cool to see them coming back and having an opportunity that even if they don’t go and play in college, they can still play wheelchair basketball and compete at a high level,” he says.