Trinity Valley holds off Panola, advances to national title game

Published 2:39 am Saturday, March 29, 2025

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Free-throw shooting has haunted the Panola Ponies all season, while the Trinity Valley Cardinals have been solid at the charity stripe.

That came into play on Friday night as Zati Loubaki hit three free throws in the final 20 seconds, including two with 1.8 seconds on the clock to seal a 51-47 victory for the Cardinals over the Region XIV foe Ponies in the semifinals of the NJCAA Division I National Tournament inside Hutchinson Sports Arena.

“That was a close game for sure,” Loubaki said. “It was a team win. Everybody played hard. We worked hard for this moment. It’s only the beginning for us. We’ve got one more game tomorrow. We’ve got to finish it.”

The win sends Trinity Valley (33-3) to the national championship game on the men’s side for the first time in program history. The Trinity Valley women have won eight national championships. The Cardinals also tied a program-record for wins in a season set in 1982 and 2016 with 33. The 1982 team was the only other Trinity Valley men’s team to reach the national semifinals and finished in third place.

The Cardinals, who rank second in Region XIV and 34th in the country in free-throw shooting at 72.7 percent, finished 13 of 16 at the line, including a 7 of 10 effort from Loubaki.

Panola ranks last in Region XIV and the country in free-throw percentage at 57.3 percent, and the Ponies went 6 of 17 at the line in Friday’s setback.

It was also a fitting defensive battle between two of the top teams in the country on that end of the floor.

Trinity Valley is ranked No. 2 in the conference and country in scoring defense at 57.2 points per game, while Panola is ranked third in the conference and sixth in the country at 61.5 points per game. Angelina, which reached the national quarterfinals, leads the conference and the nation.

Panola held Trinity Valley to 32.1 percent shooting for the game and 23.1 percent in the second half with 19 points in the final 20 minutes. The Cardinals limited the Ponies to 28.6 percent from the field and kept Panola to 10 points for more than 15 minutes to open the game.

“Panola is a great team,” Loubaki said. “They play good defense, they play good offense, and they’ve got a couple of good players. We had to be locked in on defense against a team like this. That’s why everybody was locked in. That’s why we won the game today.”

“Our defensive effort was incredible,” Trinity Valley head men’s basketball coach Greg Heiar said. “That’s what really got us a lead and really finished the game. It’s just amazing to win a game where I think we gave up about 20 offensive rebounds, and we still found a way to win. We made some big plays down the stretch and made free throws when we needed to. I’m just super proud of this group.”

The Ponies finished with 22 offensive rebounds — nine from Indiana State pledge Enel St. Bernard and seven from C.J. Worsham.

The game started with Tyler Smith finding Charles Outlaw for a quick dunk for the Cardinals.

Trinity Valley scored the game’s first nine points and jumped out to an 11-1 lead with Garrett Nuckolls hitting a 3-pointer and connecting on a floater in that stretch.

After Panola got its first field goal with a Khoi Thurmon steal and layup with 15:05 on the clock, Nuckolls hit a triple as the shot clock was winding down to make the score 14-3 with 14:09 to play in the first half.

That was the final 3-pointer made in the game by the Cardinals, who were 2 of 12 from downtown.

Following another Thurmon bucket, the Cardinals went on a 6-0 run to get up 20-5.

Down 24-10, Panola eventually found its stroke from outside, hitting four 3-pointers in a 3:36 span from the 4:37 mark to the 1:01 mark — two apiece by Cliff Robinson III and Thurmon — to cut the score to 32-22 at halftime. That 1:01 bucket was the final make for either team in the first half.

Panola made just one triple in the second half to go 5 of 29 from 3-point range. That one three from the Ponies in the second half was an and-one to cut the score from 46-39 to 46-43 with 2:00 to play.

The teams traded buckets with a Thurmon layup called goaltending made the score 48-45 with 1:21 to play. Nobody else scored until a Loubaki free throw with 20 seconds to play. Worsham had a putback with two seconds left before Loubaki’s free throws sealed it.

The Cardinals will now meet Connors State (32-3) in the national championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday.

“It means a lot,” Loubaki said. “It means a lot for GH. It means a lot for my teammates. We’re getting ready for this. Everybody is excited to play tomorrow. Let’s go and see.”

“It means a lot,” Heiar said. It’s what we came to do. It’s what we talked about in our first team meeting back in July. I told them we’re here to win a national championship, and these young men have worked so hard. Hard work together is our model every day. One day, one play. And we want to get better every day. And with that mindset, they’ve just been unbelievable all year long.

“We won Region 14, the conference championship, which was a gauntlet. And then we lost to Panola in the championship (of the conference tournament). And then to come back and get this win was special and even more special to play for a national championship now. This is my fourth time playing for a national championship in junior college. The last time I was in the game, we won, and I’ve lost two, so I’m 1-2. And I’ve just got complete confidence in these guys that they’re going to buy in to what we need to do to take it one play at a time and give our best shot to beat a very good Connors State team.”

Trinity Valley and Panola played four times this season. Panola won the first meeting 66-59 Dec. 14 in Carthage. Trinity Valley won 73-60 Feb. 22 in Athens. Panola won 67-59 March 15 in Baytown.

Thurmon led Panola, which ended the season at 29-7, with 19 points. Worsham had 17 rebounds, and St. Bernard grabbed 14 boards.

Loubaki led Trinity Valley with 17 points. Nuckolls, the former standout at Bullard High School and LaPoynor High School, had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Smith added 8 points and seven assists.