The Lamar State College Port Arthur Seahawks have won three-straight NJCAA Region 14 men's basketball tournament openers and six of their last eight.
Port Arthur's team is looking for so much more, though.
"First round, second round, I feel like we're going to make it far this year," says the team's leading scorer, sophomore Kanntrell Burney. "I love the tournament. What we've got to do is execute, listen to what Coach says.
"I think we're going to be successful."
Action in the 2021 Region 14 tournament begins Tuesday, April 6 at 1 p.m. in Jacksonville, Texas at the John Alexander Gymnasium, the one-time home of the now-defunct Lon Morris Junior College.
NJCAA REGION 14 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE/TICKETS
Coach Lance Madison's Seahawks, with a COVID-shortened season record of 7-14, face Tyler Junior College, 8-13, in the 1 p.m. opener. The Hawks split their two games against TJC, falling 70-68 in Port Arthur after coming back from 29 points down in the second half on March 14, and winning 89-82 in Tyler on March 27 after trailing by 14 at half.
A win in the Tuesday opener will pit the Seahawks against Region 14 regular-season champion Trinity Valley Community College, 20-1 this season and ranked No. 8 nationally, at 1 p.m. Thursday.
TVCC beat the Seahawks 94-86 in Port Arthur on Feb. 24 and 87-68 in Athens this past Saturday, April 3.
The tournament wraps up Saturday night, April 10, the winner of that 7 p.m. championship game automatically advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament at Hutchinson, Kansas.
Sophomore long-range shooters Burney, 19.8 points per game, and Tydan Archibald (15.5 ppg) with freshman forward Joe Lucien (13.9 ppg), have accounted for 65 percent of the Seahawks' scoring this season.
Burney and Archibald rank No. 1 and No. 3 in 3-pointers made in Region 14, with 88 and 74, respectively. On scoring average against the league, Burney ranks fifth, Archibald 11th and Lucien 16th.
Burney was averaging 24.6 points per game and ranked No. 2 in the nation in scoring after hitting for 31 points against Trinity Valley on Feb. 24. He injured his hamstring at the end of that game and missed the next two games.
Archibald, Lucien, Kenyawn Bowie, Desmond McQuain and Kobi Johnson picked up for their teammate in back-to-back wins over Jacksonville and Bossier Parish. Archibald, though, struggled from the field in early March, reaching double figures just once in a five-game stretch.
But Burney and Archibald kept firing and rebounded to finish the season strong. The 3-point shooters each ended the regular season with 20-point-plus performances in the past two games.
"I've been in a drought for a bit, and I'm thankful my teammates still trust me to shoot the ball well," Archibald said after breaking back out with 28 points against Tyler on March 27.
McQuain, Nash Golaszewski and Adrian Caldwell II have joined point guard Johnson in helping Burney and Archibald with the 3-point shooting. Golaszewki and Caldwell have done a good job of running the high post with either Lucien or Bowie under the basket. Li'Jon Smith has shared point guard duties with Johnson.
"I love my team. They believe in me, trust me and let me do my thing," Burney said. "Sometimes we all get our selfish ways but at the end of the day, we play as a team."
Burney was a backup for the Seahawks who upset Trinity Valley in the first round of last year's tournament and while he's blossomed as a sophomore starter, he admits the addition of Archibald, a transfer from TVCC, has helped.
"If I'm knocking down shots and he's knocking down shots," Burney said of Archibald, "they won't be able to stop us."