By Fred Stabbert
LOCH SHELDRAKE – You could feel the excitement as you walked into the Sullivan County Community College Fieldhouse on Thursday night.
For the first time ever, SCCC was hosting the National Junior College Athletic Assn. Div. III National Championship.
More than 1,300 fans showed up to cheer on the SCCC Generals Thursday and they were not disappointed as the home team won a dramatic come-from-behind 52-51 victory.
But SCCC – and Sullivan County – also won the hearts of many fans this past weekend as they were treated to exceptional basketball on a super stage during the three-day tourney.
“It (the national tourney) was a lot of hard work for our Athletic Director Chris DePew and his staff and the county,” SCCC President Dr. Mamie Howard Golladay, who attended the tourney with husband, Dennis, said. “From the Visitors Association to the Chamber, everyone had a lot to contribute.
“It was just wonderful, we saw people at the tournament we haven’t seen in years,” she said. “And we received great feedback. The Villa Roma (where all the teams stayed) put on a show for us and really came through. And the coaches loved Bethel Woods.”
SCCC Board Chair Penny Coombe agreed.
“It was electric,” Coombe said. “I was there for all three Sullivan Generals’ games. Congratulations to all the people at the college and in the community who worked so hard to make it a success.”
“It’s very good for the county,” County Court Judge Mike McGuire said of hosting the national tournament here in Sullivan County.
A look courtside included faces from all corners of the county, including George Cooke, Ken Klein, Leni Binder, Roberta Byron-Lockwood, Lymon Holmes, Reese and Mickey Roche, Judges Anthony Kane, Burt Ledina and Jeffrey Altbach, Dick and Penny Coombe, Anthony and Linda Cellini and Sheriff Michael Schiff.