The Scouts may have wrapped up their final regular season in February, but for the men's and women's teams, the playoff season has just begun.

The women started out slowly this season, but have been hot down the stretch and in the early rounds of the playoffs. Currently, the women's team takes its 22-11 record to the 12-team National tournament in Peoria, IL from March 19-22.

After finishing the season with a 22-7 record, the men are trying to finish strong in the playoffs. After struggling down the stretch, the men have played well in the playoffs and head to Nationals in Danville, IL, after beating Johnson County CC on March 11. The score was 76-67.

Before the playoff resurgence, the men's team had been struggling.

Of the team's seven losses, four of them came in the last seven games of the season. The team went through most of the year without faltering much. Before the team's struggles down the stretch, they were on a nine-game winning streak.

North Central Community College broke the team's streak and their games have not been the same since. After that game, the team went 3-4 to close out the season. Which begs the question: Have the Scouts run out of juice?

It's not necessarily that they've burned themselves out, but they may need to pace themselves better. They do know how to turn it on though. If they can play the rest of the post-season the same way they've been playing, they have the potential to become the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) champions.

However, the team seems to have found new life going into the Region 16 playoffs. In the first round the Scouts played a very familiar Florissant Valley. They have competed against each other twice during the season, and each team walked away with one victory.

This time the Scouts showed that they have lost a step from previous meetings by knocking Florissant Valley out of the playoffs and going on to win by sixteen points.

At the semi-finals in Fulton, the Scouts were matched against Meramec, whom they'd played twice during the regular season. In their last meeting, Meramec beat the Scouts by seven points. This time, with revenge in their eyes and the NJCAA Championship on the line, the Scouts pulled out a narrow win. The final score was 63-56.

The team advanced to the District Finals with the win over Meramec. On March 11, the men beat local rival Johnson County for a trip to the finals.

Copyright 2008 Metropolitan Community College