While Shawnee Community College faltered a bit coming down the stretch finishing with a .500 record at 15-15, the Saints still played some very entertaining and high quality basketball this winter.

The Saints’ first foray into Division 1 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) ended with Kaskaskia handing the Saints a heartbreaking 57-58 loss in first round play on March 4.

Meanwhile, Massac County High School graduate Corey Ayala and his Rend Lake College Warriors are heading to Danville for the NJCAA “Big Dance.”

The Warriors took on Cecil College of Maryland in first round play March 19.

Rend Lake was seeded number four in the tournament while Cecil College was named the number 13 seed.

Rend Lake finished atop the Great Rivers Athletic Conference with an overall record of 24-3 and bounced Lincoln College and John Wood College of Quincy to take the Region 24 title.

The NJCAA D-2 Championship runs from March 19-23.