GCC falls to DCTC after strong week

By JASON JUNO

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Ironwood — Things are trending up again for GCC after a tough start to 2025.

After losing three of their first four, the Samsons won all three of their games last week and welcomed their biggest playmaker back in X’Zavion McCoy. They fell short in a big game at DCTC Monday, but they were competitive in a 96-84 loss, giving them hope for the rematch on Feb. 3 in Ironwood.

It was a four-point game, 45-41, at halftime.

“(We) hung with them,” GCC coach Dennis Mackey said. “DCTC’s size wore us down.”

McCoy, who missed the Samsons’ first five games of 2025, led Gogebic with 23 points and seven rebounds plus he had eight assists — ”Zay is still not in great shape, but he put together a great stat line in 38 minutes tonight,” Mackey said.

Cori Johnson and Enrique Moreno-Bautista both scored 17 points for the Samsons and Kadin Baxter had 15.

DCTC’s leading scorer, Lorenzo Levy, a 5-10 guard from St. Paul, led the Blue Knights with 27 points.

The Samsons will need to beat DCTC in the rematch to force a coin flip to determine the East’s No. 1 seed for the NJCAA Division II Region 13 tournament. That’s especially important this year because the 1 seed hosts the entire tournament with two from North Dakota also involved to make four teams.

The last week should provide some additional optimism.

Before dropping the close one to DCTC (5-14), which has played a tough schedule, GCC beat Itasca 78-68 last Wednesday, Marshfield 93-57 Friday and Northland Community and Technical College 96-84 Saturday afternoon.

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McCoy wasn’t back from a health concern for the Itasca (7-12) game, but the Samsons still played well.

“(We) minimized our turnovers (nine), won the rebound battle (34-28) and shot well from the floor,” Mackey said.

Cori Johnson led the Samsons with 25 points and he had seven boards. Mackey called it one of his best games.

“Cori was hitting his mid-range jump shot, which opened the floor and allowed him to get to the rim for a few baskets as well,” Mackey said. “Ben Salkauskas provided production and energy off the bench, scoring 17 points and grabbing six boards. Defensively we had our hands full. Kaden Baxter, Kaden Vardon and Jalen Browning took turns defending Luke Goshadze, making him work hard for the 16 points he scored against us.”

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The Samsons won all three of their games over Marshfield this season with Friday night’s win in McCoy’s return.

“Zay McCoy’s impact was evident from the opening tip. His playmaking on offense along with his pesky defense were nice to see once again,” Mackey said. “We had 12 guys in uniform and everyone was ready to play. That was a welcome sight for starters. Between injuries and sickness, it’s been a struggle to develop any consistency with our roster rotations.”

Baxter got Gogebic off to a good start with a couple of buckets inside and a long-range make. Marshfield stayed close for the first five-six minutes, but Gogebic’s defensive pressure wore them down, allowing them to get out on the break, Mackey said.

Johnson led GCC with 16 points, Baxter and Moreno-Bautista each had 13, Pieper 11 and McCoy 10. Jalen Browning finished with seven steals.

“We had five guys in double-digit scoring,” Mackey said. “We rebounded well and we shot 50% from the field. I like that kind of production. We did get a little loose with the ball at times, 14 turnovers. In the end, it was a nice win. It’s good to protect home court.”

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The Samsons won a tight game on Saturday, at home once again, outscoring Northland 39-28 in the second half that started with a 30-30 tie.

Moreno-Bautista led the Samsons with 23 points off five 3s, McCoy had 13 and Johnson 12.

“(Moreno-Bautista) had a big start for us first half and he hit a couple big ones in the second half, too,” Mackey said.

He credited the players inside.

“They battled hard in there; both Kadens, Vardon and Baxter, Jalen (Browning); off the bench we brought in (Bradyn) Pieper for a little while and (Moreno-Bautista) was in there battling too. Those guys were undersized and they just battled like heck against those guys,” Mackey said. “We got outrebounded a little bit, but overall I thought they did a good job.”

McCoy’s return frees Johnson from having to handle the ball so much and Johnson has been shooting it well of late.

“The big thing, what I really like is the defense (McCoy) brings to us,” Mackey said. “He’s got his hands in there, his feet in position for rebounds and stripping guys when they drive the lane. That’s not teachable. He just has instincts where to key on the defensive end, which is just uncanny.”

Tre Jones led Northland (5-14) with 21 points.

GCC (9-9) was headed to Vermilion Wednesday night with Rainy River coming to town Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.

Monday

GCC — Kadin Baxter 15, X’Zavion McCoy 23, Jalen Browning 7, Kaden Vardon 2, Bradyn Pieper 2, Cori Johnson 17, Enrique Moreno-Bautista 17, Hernan Cortes 1. FTs: 14-15. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Browning. 3-pointers: Moreno-Bautista 5, McCoy 2, Baxter 1, Browning 1, Johnson 1.

DCTC — Chris Owens 13, Justice King 17, Cyrus Jones 4, Juzavious Dickerson 16, Nik Sircelj 15, Brevin Conway 4, Lorenzo Levy 27. FTs: 19-25. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: Owens. 3-pointers: Levy 6, King 3.

GCC 41 84

DCTC 45 96

Saturday

Northland — Lewis Jones 4, Isaiah Brown 13, Daveon Turner 1, Etienne Aime 10, Zeke Aime 8, Adam McIntyre 1, Tre Jones 21. FTs: 7-13. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Zion Donnell. 3-pointers: Jones 5.

Gogebic — Kadin Baxter 6, X’Zavion McCoy 13, Jalen Browning 3, Cori Johnson 12, Enrique Moreno-Bautista 23, Kaden Vardon 6, Bradyn Pieper 2, Ben Salkauskas 4. FTs: 13-21. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Moreno-Bautisa 5, Johnson 2, Browning 1.

Northland 30 58

Gogebic 30 69

Friday

Marshfield — Brennan Peterson 3, Tyler Linzmeier 2, Owen Hanson 13, Jake Skroch 11, Sam Everson 4, CJ Thompson 2, Cy Becker 10, Dylan Baker 8, Jesse Hanlon 2, Kayden Street 2. FTs: 9-14. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Becker 2, Baker 2, Peterson 1, Everson 1.

Gogebic — Kadin Baxter 13, X’Zavion McCoy 10, Jalen Browning 9, Cori Johnson 16, Enrique Moreno-Bautista 13, Bradyn Pieper 11, Ben Salkauskas 5, Hernan Cortes 5, Omar Bailey 7, Tyson Klingman 4. FTs: 8-12. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Johnson 4, Moreno-Bautista 3, McCoy 2, Baxter 1, Browning 1, Pieper 1, Bailey 1.

Marshfield 25 57

Gogebic 47 93

Wednesday

Itasca — Dmareon Manning 18, Nderius Walker 3, Gohan Sawyer 5, Luka Goshadze 16, Clayton Cook 16, Jerek Eans 10. FTs: 16-20. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: Goshadze. 3-pointers: Manning 4, Sawyer 1, Cook 1.

Gogebic — Kadin Baxter 10, Jalen Browning 6, Cori Johnson 25, Enrique Moreno-Bautista 4, Kaden Vardon 7, Bradyn Pieper 5, Ben Salkauskas 17, Tyson Klingman 4. FTs: 10-20. Fouls; 21. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Salkauskas 3, Pieper 1, Vardon 1, Johnson 1, Moreno-Bautista 1, Baxter 1.

Itasca 29 68

Gogebic 31 78