Trinity Valley Community College is the 2025 NJCAA Men’s Division I Basketball national champion. (Photo courtesy of NJCAA).
By John Mesh
The Trinity Valley Community College Cardinals are the 2025 NJCAA Men’s Division I champions.
The No. 7-seeded Cardinals defeated the No. 17 Connors State College Cowboys 69-61 in the NJCAA Men’s Division I championship game Saturday on Sam Butterfield Court at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The game was televised on ESPNU.
No. 7 Trinity Valley Community College, which won its first national title, posted a 34-3 record during the 2024-25 season. Connors State finished the season with a 32-4 record.
The score was tied 32-32 at halftime. The Cardinals outscored the Cowboys 37-29 in the second half.
Zati Loubaki and Garrett Nuckolls scored 17 points apiece to lead TVCC.
Brayton Wenger and M.J. Wardlaw both scored 9, Cameron Williams 7, Tyler Smith 6 and Charles Outlaw 4.
Williams grabbed 9 rebounds. Loubaki and Wardlow each made 7-of-8 free throws.
Kevin Stubblefield led the Cowboys with 20 points. DJ Dormu, who was named the tournament’s Bud Obee Outstanding Small Player Award (for players 6-foot-1 and under), added 16 points.
Former Hutchinson Blue Dragon Edwin Daniel posted his fourth tournament “double-double” with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Ethan Dietz scored 6 points, Jermiah Johnson 3, Jaylen Lee 2 and Aric Walls 2.
Loubaki was named the William French Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Loubaki, a freshman guard/forward, scored 61 points and grabbed 20 rebounds during the Cardinals’ 4-0 tournament run.
He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Trinity teammates Smith (sophomore guard) and Nuckolls (sophomore guard).
Other members of the All-Tournament Team were Brent Moss, sophomore guard, Barton Community College; LA Hayes, sophomore guard, Frank Phillips College (Texas); Marcus “MJ” Whitlock Jr., freshman guard, Cowley College; CJ Worsham, freshman forward, Panola (Texas); DJ Dormu, freshman guard, Connors State (Okla.); Jordan Matthews, freshman forward, Angelina (Texas); Edwin Daniel, sophomore forward, Connors State (Okla.); Khoi Thurman, sophomore guard (Panola); and LeBron Thomas, sophomore guard, Vincennes College (Ind.).
The Ponies from Panola College (Texas) received the Sportsmanship Award.
TVCC coach Greg Heiar won his second NJCAA Division I men’s title and was named Coach of the Tournament. He was the head coach when Northwest Florida State won the championship in 2022.
Heiar was the head coach at Chipola College from 2004-2009 and led his team to three NJCAA Final Fours.
Heiar was an assistant coach at Wichita State University from 2011-17. The Shockers went to the NCAA Tournament each year he was an assistant. WSU went to the Final Four in 2013 and won 35 straight games in 2014.
2025 NJCAA Division I Men’s Tournament Results
Hutchinson (Kan.) Sports Arena
First Round
Saturday, March 22
Game 2: Connors State 80, John A. Logan 75
Game 2: Triton College 58, Columbia State College 55
Game 3: Monroe University 79, Chipola College78
Game 4: Vincennes University 69, Three Rivers, Mo., 51
Sunday, March 23
Game 5: Barton Community College 92, Brunswick Community College 62
Game 6: Trinidad State 83, Pensacola State 75
Game 7: AngelinaCollege 87, South Georgia State College 70
Game 8: Frank Phillips College 83, Wallace State 69
Second Round
Monday, March 24
Game 9: Connors State College 63, Snow College 62
Game 10: Cowley College 58, Triton College 57
Game 11: South Plains College 91, vs. Monroe University 71
Game 12: Vincennes University 85, Indian Hills Community College 71
Tuesday, March 25
Game 13: Daytona College 73, Barton Community College 70
Game 14: Trinity Valley 92, Trinidad State 60
Game 15: Angelina College 74, Jones College 62
Game 16: Panola College 60, Frank Phillips College 53
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 26
Game 17: Connors State College 66, Daytona State College 65
Game 18: Trinity Valley 61, Cowley College 60
Game 19: South Plains College 79, South Plains College 70
Game 20: Panola College 75, Vincennes University 67
Semifinals
Friday, March 28
Game 21: No. 17 Connors State College 80, No. 4 South Plains College 74
Game 22: No. 7 Trinity Valley Community College 51, No. 6 Panola College 47
Championship
Saturday, March 29
Game 23 NJCAA Championship Game: No. 7 Trinity Valley Community College (34-3) 69, No. 17 Connors State College (32-4) 61
NJCAA Men’s DI Tournament Champions since 2015
2015 — Northwest Florida State College defeated South Plains College 83-80
2016 — Salt Lake Community College defeated Hutchinson Community College 74-64
2017 — Hutchinson Community College defeated Eastern Florida State College 84-58
2018 — South Plains College defeated College of Southern Idaho 98-95
2019 — Vincennes University defeated Ranger College (Texas) 87-77
2020 — NJCAA tournament canceled because of COVID-19 pandemic
2021 — Coffeyville Community College defeated Cowley College 108-99
2022 — Northwest Florida State College defeated Salt Lake Community College 83-67
2023 — John A. Logan College defeated Northwest Florida State College 73-70
2024 — Barton Community College defeated Triton College 88-73
2025 — Trinity Valley Community College defeated Connors State College 69-61
Dodge City CC women move into NJCAA Division I semifinals
The Dodge City Community College women’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the NJCAA Women’s Division I national tournament with a 58-41 victory over New Mexico Junior College Saturday in the quarterfinals.
No. 4-seeded Dodge City (31-4) will play No. 8 Shelton State Community College (30-4) at 5 p.m. Central time/4 p.m. Mountain time on Monday.
In the other semifinal game, No. 3 Northwest Florida State College (30-3) will play No. 10 Eastern Arizona College (28-6) at 7:15 p.m. Central/6 p.m. Mountain.
In other NJCAA women’s quarterfinal games Saturday, Shelton State, Tenn., knocked off No. 1-seed Chipola College, Fla., 61-60, Eastern Arizona College defeated Wabash Valley College 64-59 and Northwest Florida Stare defeated Three Rivers (Mo.) Community College 83-78.
New Mexico Junior College led 15-10 after one quarter. Dodge City led at halftime 25-21 and 43-32 after three quarters. The Dodge City Conquistadors outscored NMJC 15-9 in the fourth quarter.
Shorna Preston led Dodge City with 22 points and 14 rebounds.Taya Morgan and Layla-J Cameron both scored11 points. Cameron grabbed 7 rebounds.
Amyah Sutton led NMJC with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Jada Graves added 11 points.
Hutchinson CC baseball, softball teams combine for four wins, 66 runs
The Hutchinson Community College softball and baseball teams combined for 66 runs on the road Saturday as they swept four games from their opponents.
The Blue Dragon softball team blasted Allen County 17-3 in five innings the first game at ACC Baseball Field and won the second game 11-2 (5 innings).
In Game 1, the Blue Dragon baseball team had a seven-run top of the second inning and an eight-run third inning.
At Pratt’s Lemon Park, the Hutchinson CC softball team touted Pratt 16-0 in Game 1 (5 innings) and 22-5 in Game 2 (5 innings).
Hutchinson’s Bailey Backhaus went 3-for-5 in Game 1. Haley Kruger had eight RBIs on four hits in Game 2.
The Blue Dragon baseball team hosts a 1 p.m. doubleheader against Cloud County Community College on Thursday and plays a 1 p.m. twinbill Saturday against the Thunderbirds on Saturday.
The Hutchinson softball team hosts Fort Hays Tech Northeast in a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday and play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Friday at El Dorado against Butler Community College.
Inman softball team sweeps Little River, baseball team drops two
The Inman High School softball team swept a doubleheader from Little River 3-0 (5 innings) and 16-1 (3 innings) Friday at Inman.
The Inman baseball team lost two games to Little River 8-1 and 6-3.
Hutchinson, Buhler track teams compete at Newton Invitational
The Hutchinson and Buhler high school track teams opened the season Friday at the Newton Invitational.
The meet took place at the Bethel College track.
Hutchinson, Buhler boys results (Top 6)
100: 2.Camrynn Harris H 10.9, 6.Spencer Riggs H 11.42.
200: 1.Camrynn Harris 22.65.
800: 1.Gavin Lindahl B 2:01.98, 2.Henry Trumpp B 2:05.04.
1600: 1.Gavin Lindahl B 4:40.67, 2.Henry Trumpp B 4:45.13.
3200: 4.Ryan Cherry B 10:51.92, 5.Andrew Morgan B 11:25.69.
110 hurdles: 3.Zach Friesen B 15.09, 4.Aiden Martinez B 15.77, 5.Landon Martinez B 15.85.
300 hurdles: 4.Landon Martinez B 41.68.
4×400 relay: 3.Hutchinson A (Landon Nusser, Deshawn Adams, Camrynn Harris, Spencer Riggs) 3:42.1.
4×800 relay: 6.Buhler A (Andrew Morgan, Ryan Cherry, Caleb Horning, Christian Vaile), 9:30.72.
High jump: 1.Dexter Fleeman B 6-2, 2.Garrett Gleason B 6-0.
Pole vault: 1.Max Harmony B 13-3, 5. Kodie Applegate 10-0, 6.Landon Nusser H 9-6.
Triple jump: 4.Dontrell Willard-Trass B 37-11.
Shot put: 4.Tanner Brown B 44-1, 5.Kaleb Cape H 43-7, 6.Myjian Lee-McGlynn B 42-2.
Discus: 6.Tanner Brown B 129-0.
Javelin: 6.Myjian Lee-McGlynn B 135-3.
Hutchinson, Buhler girls results (Top 6)
100: 1.Lillie Ledford B 12.65, 3.Sofia Spies 13.0, 5.KeiRre Martinez H 13.09.
200: 2.Lillie Ledford B 26.61, 3.Jenna Lackey B 27.77, 4.Sofia Spies B 27.99, 6.Avery Meier 28.47.
400: 1.Lillie Ledford 1:00.05.
1600: 3.Avery Tecklenburg H 6:09.16.
3200: 3.Laney Reiff B 12:26.93, 5.Corbin Starkweather 12:37.24, 6.Isabella Friesen B 12:40.83.
100 hurdles: 3.Ava Krone H 17.37, 5.Isabel Castaneda H 18.57.
300 hurdles: 3.Ava Krone 51.57, 4.Calyra Heinlein B 52.81,6.Isabel Castaneda 54.7.
4×100 relay: 4.Buhler A (Camryn Gpertz, Parker Ratzlaff, Aaliyah Leving, Addysyn Keller), 54.32; 6.Buhler B (Ryan Gotti, Audrey Koster, Calyra Heinlein, Aubrey Leiker), 55.79.
4×400 relay: 3.Hutchinson A (Ava Krone, KeiRre Avery Tecklenburg, Avery Meier), 4:30.88; 4.Buhler A (Jenna Lackey, Calyra Heinlein, Khloe Blackwell, Aubrey Leiker), 4:33.02; 6.Buhler B (Aaliyah Leving, Isabella Rivera, Haylee Kinast, Audrey Koster), 5:01.27.
4×800 relay: 3.Buhler A (Laney Reiff, Ava Koster, Allison Johnson, Corbin Starkweather), 10:56.23; 6.Buhler B (Haylee Kinast, Isabella Friesen, Hannah Khan, Aneesa Courson), 11:31.63.
High jump: 1.Ava Koster B 5-0, 5.Ashlynn Gumm 4-6.
Pole vault: 1.Jenna Lackey B 10-6, 2.Khloe Blackwell B 9-0, 5.Sabella Regier B 7-6.
Long jump: 1.Sofia Spies B 17-2 3/4, 3.KeiRre Martinez H 16-7 1/4.
Triple jump: 6.Addysyn Keller B 32-0 1/4.
Discus: 5.Kyndra Gaines H 109-5.
Javelin: 1.Ryan Gotti B 120-6.