Schedule prepared Columbus State for postseason

The theme for the Columbus State basketball team has been “Just us,” and those two words were never more in play than with 3.7 seconds left against Joliet in a National Junior College Athletic Association district championship game on March 3.

The score was tied and the Cougars were 94 feet from the basket when coach Edward Thompson had a question during a timeout.

“I said, ‘Who can make that pass to Mo?’ ” Thompson said of star Mario Young. “Chris Byrd stepped right up and said, ‘I can make that pass.’ ”

It wasn’t the first time Byrd acted like a center fielder trying to throw out a base runner.

“I just threw it as hard as I could for Mario, and he went up and got it,” he said. “We practice that all the time.”

Byrd, a sophomore guard from South, threw a one-handed pass that Young snatched between two defenders. Young faked a shot, took two dribbles and made the winning basket as time expired to give Columbus State an 85-83 victory over the fifth-ranked team in the nation.

That propelled the Cougars (18-9) into the Division III Elite Eight national tournament against Herkimer (New York) at noon Thursday at Loch Sheldrake, New York.

“Coach said in practice ‘Just us’ and that our team has to stick together and not worry about the outsiders,” Young said. “We prepared for Joliet and stuck with what we wanted to do.”

This is the second season for Columbus State in Division III, but athletic director Scott Nichols retained most of the team’s contracts to play against Division II teams. Division III provides academic scholarships, whereas Division II awards athletic scholarships.

“I have told my athletic director that I want the toughest schedule possible,” Thompson said. “I understand that we’ll take our lumps early, but this schedule was a blessing in disguise. This team didn’t know how good it could be at the beginning of the season, but the coaches knew. We have some size, and we use it.”

Young is from Mansfield, but the other 10 players are from greater Columbus.

Anthony Butler, a freshman forward from Pickerington Central, said the Cougars won’t be in awe playing in the Elite Eight.

“We’ve been talking about going to the nationals, and how it’s going to happen,” he said. “That schedule gave us the mindset that we can win. I think we’re ready to play with energy. We’re going to try to win it all.”