Both Magic basketball teams will enter the Region XVI Tournament on their quest for a national championship. However, the last Magic home game stirs up many mixed feelings.
By: Spencer Gleason
Sports Editor
In their final season known as the Magic, both the men’s and women’s STLCC-Meramec basketball teams took the court on Wednesday as they faced the Lindenwood University-Belleville Campus Lynx. With their final game in front of the home crowd, the sophomore players were also honored in a ceremony during their halftimes.
“I’m trying to put the sadness in the background and the success of the programs in the foreground,” said Bob Bottger, manager of physical education and athletics for Meramec. “This will be the first time, when we win the men’s game, that both teams have gone undefeated at home.”
VIDEO: Meramec Basketball Play Last Game
During the 2010-2011 season, both Magic basketball teams exceeded the 20-win mark, with the women’s team winning the most games ever in its program’s history—23.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Lady Magic head coach Shelly Ethridge said. “I’m so proud of these kids, everything that they’ve accomplished this year. Words can’t express how happy I am for our program and our kids. I’m just overwhelmed.”
Sophmore starting guard Dietrick Sooter scored the game’s—and the team’s—final two points.
“I didn’t even know about that until just now,” Sooter said after the game. “Meramec is going to go down as one of the best junior colleges, division II wise. It’s a privilege to play here and to get the last basket. It’s an honor.”
The men’s team hit the 20-win plateau for the fifth consecutive season with a record of 24-6. It’s the Magic’s eighth time in nine years to hit the mark, and in 34 seasons in charge of the Magic, head coach Randy Albrecht has led his team to 18 separate 20-win seasons.
On Tuesday, the men’s basketball team became the first division II team to clinch the Midwest Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC) for the first time since 1990, a year they also won.
Both Magic basketball teams will enter the Region XVI Tournament on their quest for a national championship. However, the last Magic home game stirs up many mixed feelings.
“It’s bittersweet,” Bottger said, “but I guess I’m just trying to enjoy the good part.”
