WARSAW — I know I wrote at-length last week about the NCCAA basketball tournaments making their final passes through Grace College and Winona Lake.

I try not to write about the same subject two weeks in a row, but there are a few things you need to know about in the aftermath of last. First, it was suggested before the tip off of the first game on Wednesday what a poetic ending to Grace’s duties of hosting over the last 15 years it would be if the Lady Lancers could win the national championship.

Everyone agreed, but I doubt too many really thought it could actually happen.

One problem: in the previous 14 years, they’d never even made it to the championship game, let alone won it.

Grace was the 4-seed in an 8-team tournament in a year that wasn’t their best in recent history. As a matter of fact, there was much more optimism about Grace’s chances last year when they won a school-record 24 games, a school record 13 Crossroads League games and their first NAIA national tournament game, and then came home to be in the NCCAA tournament.

And they looked the part, winning their quarterfinal game and leading deep into the fourth quarter in the semis before losing and ultimately finishing third.

Graduations and transfers hit the program hard, and their record this season showed it.

They finished the regular season 14-14 and 9-9 in the league. They lost in the first round of the CL tournament and then faced the daunting task of hosting the NCCAA championship where they would play three games over three or four days after not playing (literally) for a month.

They had lost 7 of their last 10 games, and they had very little in the way of momentum after their last road trip of the season.

But at the shoot-around last Tuesday, the players and coaches all felt like the pre-tournament practices were really good and the team was very focused.

Man, did they play like it.

They posted a solid win over the 5-seed Southwestern Christian Wednesday, then knocked off the top seed from Oakland City in southern Indiana on a buzzer beater by former Lady Tiger Kenzie Ryman that made ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 list that night.

In front of a huge crowd on Saturday at the MOCC, in their first ever championship game, they finished the job.

They had crowned so many others, and it was finally their turn to wear it for themselves.
Maddie Ryman, a senior and the all-time leading scorer and assister in school history, earned another honor at Tuesday’s pre-tournament banquet. She was named the winner of the Kathy Freeze-Peabody Award, given annually to the most outstanding player in NCCAA Division I women’s basketball.

Athletic Director Chad Briscoe, who has devoted a good chunk of his life to hosting and running these tournaments simultaneously for 12 years and the women’s for three years before that received an award for his years of service.

Briscoe had just honored an incredible list of people who had been part of the crew who had worked the tournaments for most of or all of the run.

And then Briscoe had a message for those in attendance at the banquet: “if it’s only about the basketball this week, you’re missing the whole point.”

The teams had visited elementary schools, nursing homes and other Kosciusko County non-profit organizations to help out as part of their service projects earlier in the day.

His point was that the impact they’d had on the people they’d come in contact with earlier in the day and the long-term ramifications of that time would outlast what place they finished in the tournament on Friday and Saturday.

It was a powerful message, and it was received.

How do I know? Because the men’s team that visited my son’s school Tuesday made it to the championship game Saturday. He made a sign and sat in the front row across from their bench. Coming out of the locker room each and every member of the Wayland Baptist Pioneers from Plainview, Texas went out of their way to come over and thank him for coming to cheer for them.

My boy will never forget that.

I hope those players will not forget the power and the memories they created here.

I know for a fact that the NCCAA knows what kind of impact they had here, and I hope that everyone at Grace College and in the towns of Warsaw and Winona Lake realize the positive impression they made on the thousands of visitors who came to our community over the last 15 years through this tournament.

If this was when it had to end, then it feels like the perfect ending.

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WINONA LAKE — A sweeter script could not have been penned than the one that played out on the hardwood of the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center on Saturday evening.

Grace’s women’s basketball team capped off a thrilling season by being crowned as the 2024 NCCAA national champions.

Grace topped Carolina 65-51 in the championship game that was played in front of a raucous crowd that spilled onto the floor at the final buzzer to celebrate the Lancers’ historic championship victory.

“I am just so overcome with emotion for what this moment represents,” said Grace head Coach Dan Davis following the victory.

“So many men and women have come before me to help lay the foundation for what was accomplished today. I could not be more thankful to President Flamm, former President Katip and Athletic Director Chad Briscoe for allowing me to lead this program.”

The Lancers’ national title was the first in program history. The championship was poetic as the final game of Grace’s 15-year run hosting the NCCAA National Championships. Grace has hosted the tournament since 2009, and the Lancers cut down their home nets for the first time as national champions on Saturday night.

Grace, who was coming off a dramatic, buzzer-beating victory in the semifinals, showed no signs of an emotional let down early in the championship bout.

Through the first 6:04 of the game saw Grace go on a 15-3 run. The opening burst saw five different players score for Grace, including six points from Maddie Ryman.

Carolina’s offense was suffocated by Grace’s defensive effort and committed six turnovers in the first quarter.

The Bruins did find some offensive consistency late in the opening frame and managed to cut the deficit in half, but the Lancers still carried a 17-11 lead into the quarter break.

In the second quarter Grace took complete control of the game behind a dominant defensive effort. The Lancers held the Bruins to just five points in the second frame.

Lancers defensive prowess forced Carolina into three consecutive turnovers and each time Ryman converted them into fast-break scores which helped re-establish the 12-point lead.

Kensie Ryman and Bekah Marshall each made good on trips to the charity stripe and Kate Rulli ended the half with three consecutive free throws to grow the lead to 37-16 entering the halftime break.

Through two quarters of play the Bruins had 16 points compared to 19 turnovers.

With their backs firmly against the wall entering the second half, Carolina came out of the locker room with a flurry.

The Bruins used an opening possession trifecta to swing momentum in their favor and managed to whittle what was a 21-point lead, down to 10 points by the middle of the quarter.

Peyton Murphy scored on a tough drive to the net which put an end to a run that saw the Lancers outscore by a mark of 15-4.

Morganne Houk had a 3-point shot that pushed Grace's lead back up to 14 points and the Lancers held a 50-36 lead entering quarter No. 4.

Rulli had a score inside to start the fourth stanza that saw the Lancers lead reach 16, but Carolina had one last run in them. In just a matter of minutes the Bruins trimmed the deficit down to single digits.

In desperate need of a stop it was Marshall who came up with a key defensive steal that Patton finished on the other end with an old-fashioned 3-point play.

Grace’s and-1 score seemed to break Carolina’s spirit as the Lancers bolstered the lead over the final minutes.

At the final horn it was Lancers who were the national champions by a score of 65-51.

“These ladies showed so much grit and determination this week,” Davis said. “They have stayed the course over the past 12 months and they truly invested and loved each other and they saw the result of the commitment today.”

Grace finished the shooting 39 percent from the floor while holding Carolina to 37 percent. The Lancers forced the Bruins into 30 turnovers while committing just 15 themselves.

Ryman finished with 20 points and Houk added 12 of her own. Murphy narrowly missed a double double with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Murphy was named to the all tournament team and Ryman was named the tournament MVP.

Saturday’s contest also marked the end of the decorated careers of seniors Patton and Ryman.

“We could not have sent these two players off in a better fashion,” Davis said of Ryman and Patton. “For two of this program's all time greats to go out this way on their home court was incredible.”

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WARSAW — Next week will mark the end of an era in Kosciusko County sports history.

Next week will be the last time, at least for a while, that the National Christian College Athletic Association will be conducting its Division I men’s and women’s basketball national championship tournaments at Grace College.

Grace College became the host of the women’s tournament in March of 2009, and they signed a three-year deal to do that. Two years later, negotiations began to bring the men’s tournament to Winona Lake, too. That deal was completed, and Grace started hosting both the men’s and women’s tournaments in 2012.

Those tournaments don’t run during separate weeks—they run simultaneously. That means you have four women’s games and four men’s games every day for the first two days, and then two each day on Consolation Friday and Championship Saturday.

The first game tips at 8:30 a.m. and the last will end near 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday.

It’s four really long days, and it’s been going on for over a decade.

Truth is, “NCCAA Week” starts long before that for the athletic department at Grace
Grace was ready for a break.

So last April, the NCCAA home office announced that the Division I basketball championships would be moving to Branson, Missouri, and would be hosted by the College of the Ozarks.

C of O knows a lot about hosting championship events, and they will do an excellent job of hosting these tournaments for the next three years. The Keeter Athletic Complex has served as host of the NCCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball National Championship in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022, while also previously hosting the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship.

They know what they are doing.

But today is a time to reflect back on what has been and what will be next week at the current venue.

Grace College and the MOCC are a top-shelf place to host such an event. The MOCC has the shape and feel of a place where championships should be played. It has the right number of seats to accommodate everyone who comes, but it’s small enough to make the fans feel like they are really close to the action … because they are.

But, as is true in almost everything that works well, it’s the people who make these events work.

It’s about Athletic Director Chad Briscoe and everyone in the athletic office. It’s about the dozens of volunteers who just want to work to make the people visiting here feel welcome. It’s about the chamber of commerce and the convention and visitors bureau who work behind the scenes to help our guests have a positive experience here, and who also share the story of why this is such a great place to live, work and play.

And it’s about local businesses who give of their time and products for the cause.

It’s been a great 15 years, and everyone who has had any role or involvement in it should feel an incredible amount of pride for what’s taken place here each March.

I have two memories to share from my time attending, broadcasting and supporting this event.

The first was two years ago. As our area began to spring back to life after COVID with a confident stride, I was part of the broadcasting team providing play-by-play on the NCCAA’s internet platform so people around the country could watch the games and cheer for their favorite teams.

At the Tuesday practices sessions, which I attend to meet coaches and players and get better prepared for the tournament, I ran into a coach how had brought his team back to Winona Lake for the tournament after not earning their way in 2019 and the 2020 tournament being cancelled because of the pandemic.

He and I had good conversations in their previous visit, and I was looking forward to seeing him again.

I ran into him in the tunnel that leads to the court, and he smiled and walked quickly to me and hugged me — the kind of hug like Ellis Redding and Andy Dufresne had on the beach after “Red” had completed his sentence in the closing scene of Shawshank Redemption.

I was caught off-guard by the length and intensity of the embrace, which was accompanied by gentle sobs in my ear. I pulled back and said, “I am so very glad to see you!”

He explained that he had lost someone dear to COVID-19, and he was glad to see that I had been spared. We hugged again and each shared a Bible verse of encouragement.

The other memory was from last March.

The Asbury women’s basketball team participated at Grace last season, and they came to Winona Lake as an amazing spiritual revival was taking place on their campus. It was so powerful that even the mainstream media covered it.

To listen to those young ladies speak of their experiences was moving, and not something I will ever forget.

Next week will be the last time teams from around the country will come to the MOCC in search of a national championship.

I hope you will come and take the spectacle in this one last time. Come cheer for Grace, and while you are there pick a team that you know nothing about and just cheer for them. Make them feel welcome. They’ll appreciate, and it will stick with you for a long time to come.

Thank you, NCCAA, for 15 years of fun and fellowship. We’ll see you again, soon.

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