Harper hopes for tournament success
Harper College will be in action when the NJCAA Division III Region IV men’s basketball tournament begins tonight with three of the top four seeds in action.
No. 6 Harper (10-20) will play at No. 3 seed Milwaukee Area Technical College (19-11) at 7 p.m.
“It’s wide open,” said Harper coach Tony Amarino. “Our year has been up and down. We are very capable of beating everybody and (we) are capable of being beat.”
All three quarterfinals are hosted by the higher seeds. The semifinals and championship game will be played at Madison College.
Harper and Milwaukee Area Tech split the season series as each team won at home. Amarino is not bothered by playing on the road, where his team is 5-8.
“I don’t think at our level there is a home court advantage,” he said.
The Stormers have three players that concern Amarino and two are Illinois natives. Guard Richard Alexander is the conductor of the orchestra and 6-foot-7 Patrick Zemanovic will be the tallest player on the court, but he prefers to play on the perimeter offensively.
“We need to match (Zemanovic’s) intensity,” Amarino said.
Despite giving up three inches to Zemanovic, it should be a good matchup for Harper sophomore forward Jordan Mack. Mack is also a finesse player, but unlike Zemanovic, rarely shoots from outside the paint.
In the second meeting of the season, the Hawks held Zemanovic to 7 points before he fouled out. Nate Johnson may be Milwaukee’s ace in the hole as he has started and been used off the bench.
The key of the game may come down to which point guard plays the best, Alexander or the Hawks’ Connor Miklasz (Hersey).
“The team with the best point guard play wins games,” said Amarino. “He’s (Miklasz) a tough kid (mentally). I’m expecting a good game from Connor.”
Along with Miklasz, sophomore Shannon Barfield has to be a big contributor offensively. If guard John Lorenz (Elk Grove) plays well, that bodes well for the visitors.
“If he gets off early, he has the ablilty to be the No. 1 or 2 player on the floor,” Amarino said.
Joliet earned the top seed and is considered the favorite with N4C champion Triton playing in the NJCAA Division II tourney. Madison (9-19) may be the dark horse and hosts an intriguing game with No. 5 Lorain (17-10) from Ohio.
This is the second time Lorain has come over to play in the Region IV tourney. Last year it upset No. 2 Harper.
“I don’t think it’s right,” said Amarino of Lorain’s participation. “They should have played in a play-in game. At our coaches meeting we are going to have to talk about (Lorain).”
Rock Valley’s Elijah Williams will be a player to watch closely for a team that could win the regional crown.