LCSC rules the Frontier

HELENA, Mont. — Derrick White entered Tuesday as the winningest Warrior of all time. He’s even winning-er now.

White scored a career-high 22 points to help the Lewis-Clark State men’s basketball team defeat Carroll 76-60 in the Frontier Conference title game, earning L-C an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament.

The win was White’s 102nd in an L-C jersey.

“It feels awesome and it definitely feels surreal,” Warriors coach Austin Johnson said of the Warriors winning their third FC tournament title in five years (though their first with him as the boss). “If you would’ve told me when I stepped on campus at L-C State as a 24-year-old assistant coach that I would’ve been in these shoes, I would’ve laughed at you.”

The Saints surely weren’t laughing when they fell behind by 12 at the half — and both times Carroll rallied in the second half, White rebuffed them.

First, White ended L-C’s drought — and a 9-0 Carroll run to pull within eight — with an old-fashioned three-point play.

Then, White converted another and-1 drive with 3:30 left to give the Warriors an 11-point lead.

“Our guys respect Carroll and know how good Carroll is,” Johnson said of a foe that had won two of three meetings with L-C entering Tuesday. “This is why you come to L-C State. You come to L-C State to play for championships.”

Back from a hyper-extended knee that kept him out of his team’s previous loss to L-C this year, Carroll’s Matt Wyman was active for Tuesday’s game, and led the hosts with 15 points, as did Match Burnham.

Carroll’s third main scorer, Dane Warp, added 11 points, but seemingly suffered a leg injury with 13:58 left and briefly exited the game for two minutes — during which time, his team’s rally lost some steam.

Dana Abe and Damek Mitchell added 14 points apiece for the Warriors — and Abe’s tomahawk slam with about two minutes left seemed to finish off the Saints, as it gave the Warriors a 13-point lead at the time.

“To hold them to 38 percent shooting and 14 percent from the 3-point line means that our guys defended at a high level,” Johnson said, pinpointing one of his players in particular. “I think Cordel Hankerson, without question, is the best defensive player — a game-changing defender — in our league.”

L-C shot 8-for-16 from beyond the arc in the first half — the last of those triples giving the Warriors a 15-point lead, something they spent the rest of the game reinflating.

Carroll fell to 1-4 when it scores less than 70 points in a game.

The Warriors and Saints — the latter of whom will almost surely get an at-large berth to Nationals — will learn their NAIA seeding next Wednesday when brackets are released.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (27-6)

Abe 5-11 2-2 14, Bradley 4-5 0-0 9, Hankerson 2-6 0-0 6, Mitchell 4-10 4-4 14, White 8-14 5-6 22, Dollarhide 1-1 0-0 2, Martin 2-6 0-0 4, Shedrick 0-6 0-0 0, Westbrook 2-6 0-0 5. Totals 28-65 11-12 76.

CARROLL (25-7)

Burnham 4-10 6-7 15, Campbell 0-2 0-0 0, Kalejaiye 2-8 5-8 9, Warp 3-9 4-4 11, Wyman 5-9 5-6 15, Austefjord 0-0 0-0 0, King 0-0 0-0 0, Mancol 0-0 0-0 0, Sljivancanin 3-7 2-3 8, Villa 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 18-47 22-28 60.

Halftime — L-C 42, Carroll 30. Three-point goals —L-C 9-24 (Abe 2-3, Bradley 1-2, Hankerson 2-4, Mitchell 2-3, White 1-2, Martin 0-2, Shedrick 0-4, Westbrook 1-4), CC 2-14 (Burnham 1-3, Campbell 0-1, Kalejaiye 0-3, Warp 1-3, Wyman 0-2, Sljivancanin 0-1, Villa 0-1). Rebounds — L-C 37 (Abe 8), CC 32 (Burhnam 8). Assists —L-C 15, CC 3. Fouls — L-C 19, CC 14. Fouled out — Campbell. Technicals — none.