Mountain View Captures District Title, Headed to National Tourney for First Time

NJCAA DIII South Central District Tournament Page

IRVING, Texas – Keitha Dickerson got the ultimate water bottle bath.

"I'll take it," Dallas College Mountain View's women's basketball coach said after being drenched by her players.

Never did being soaked after walking a two-hour tightwire in another classic battle with your rival feel so good.

Fifteenth-ranked Dallas College Mountain View beat No. 11 Dallas College Cedar Valley, 67-57, in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III South Central District Championship Saturday at Dallas College North Lake. The win sends the Lions (12-7) to the NJCAA Division III National Tournament March 15-18 in Rochester, Minnesota.

Mountain View punched its ticket to the national tournament for the first time in program history.

"We knew it was going to be hard coming out," Lions third-year guard Devon Sherrod said after scoring 22 points. "We had a hard path. We had a rough season, but we always knew that we could get it done. I never lost faith. I never had a doubt at all."

�� @mvc_womenswbb's Devon Sherrod talks about the Lions' 67-57 win in the @NJCAABasketball DIII South Central District Championship at @DCNLBlazers. No. 15 Lions advance to national tournament March 15-18 in Rochester, Minn. #MountainViewLions | #NJCAABasketball pic.twitter.com/sVKOc9HPgC

— Dallas College Athletics (@DallasCollAth) March 4, 2023

It was a game where the ebb and flow teetered back and forth, each team picking their spots to jump ahead. Yet no lead was safe.

The Lions led 42-41 after three quarters.

Mountain View's Asia Smith canned a 3-pointer with 2:01 to play to give the Lions a 61-54 lead. Cedar Valley's Sierra Headquist answered with a triple of her own at the 1:14 mark as the Suns (15-5) pulled within 63-54. But the Lions never let Cedar Valley inch any closer.

"Late in the game, my coach told me … I put my head down, she told me to pick my head up," Sherrod said. "She said, 'All-Americans do All-American things.' That just fueled me, and that's when we pulled away in the fourth quarter."

Sherrod scored 10 of her 22 in the fourth quarter, and Mountain View, outscored Cedar Valley, 25-16, in the final period to win for the second time in three meetings between the two teams this season.

"I think we're both two pretty good teams, and we knew that today it would come down to the nitty gritty," Sherrod said. "It was whoever had more heart. We continued to fight, and we fought until the end."

Mountain View's Kimberly Cohen scored 15 points, and Smith finished with 12. Katelin Holmes had nine.

Cedar Valley's Kate Valle finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Headquist had 12 points, 13 boards and three steals. Nakia Brumley had 12 points, four assists and two steals. Tiffani Hamm had eight points, 12 boards, four assists and a block. Shandrea Yeldell had six points, five rebounds and five steals.

Sherrod, who is two points away from 1,000 in her 41-game, three-year Lions career, is starting to see the journey in the juco route has been worth it. And she'll have an opportunity to reach a milestone in Minnesota.

"It means a lot to me, coming from where I came from," said Sherrod, who was granted a third year at Mountain View due to the COVID exception. "It means a lot to have the type of coaches that I've had. They've always told me to be me, be great. Any time I ever had a downfall, they always told me to keep my head up. There was never any blame. Keep playing, keep playing, keep being you, and keep being great."

Well, Mountain View has earned the right to keep playing. Let the story continue to unfold.