Buccaneers Honored
After Dawson won the Region XIII Tournament for the second straight year and the fifth time in the past seven years, a couple of other awards were presented.
Brandon Hymes was named Region Tournament MVP. In the semifinals he finished with a game high 21 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals, leading Dawson to a 109-66 win over Williston State College. In the championship, he also had a game high 16 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals. In addition to his numbers, he also guarded the opponents best players in both game, holding them way below their season average. Hymes has been instrumental in Dawson's success all year long, leading them in assists and steals and finishing second in scoring and rebounding while shooting 50% from the field, 40% from three and 70% from the free throw line.
"Brandon has been our engine all year long," explained Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "When he is locked in, playing hard and bringing positive energy, we are a really good basketball team. There's been a lot of times this year when he has put us on his back and carried us to a win, and so it was no surprise that he did it in the post-season as well. He does a lot of things that show up in the stat sheet, as well as many other things that don't show up in the stat sheet such as tough hard nosed defense, leadership, and unselfishness."
In addition to Hymes being honored, Dawson Coach Joe Peterson was also named the Region XIII Coach of the Year. Peterson led Dawson to a 22-8 regular season and 10-2 conference record, plus the two wins in the Region Tournament. Dawson has secured 19 D1 wins so far this year.
The Buccaneers will travel to Ottumwa, Iowa to face the #2 ranked Indian Hills Community College Warriors on Saturday night at 7:00 pm CST. These two teams have faced off in the district championship four other times in the past six years. Indian Hills is 29-2 on the season. They have won 17 straight games and are 19-0 at home this year. Their last loss was three months ago on December 13th. The winner of the North Central District Championship Game will get an automatic bid to the NJCAA D1 Men's Basketball National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.
