Net Gains

—Staff report

In many ways, Whitman College basketball achieved a slam dunk this season.

The men's team made history as the first men's team from the Northwest Conference to compete in the Division III Final Four. They finished the tournament with a season record of 31-1.

The women's basketball team advanced to the Elite Eight round at 26-5, their eighth winning season in a row. The Blues women vied for the NCAA championship in 2014.

Sociology major and wing player Cedric Jacobs-Jones ’19 (center) skips down the court with politics major and forward JoJo Wiggins ’18 before the Final Four game.

Between practices for the game against Babson, Butler takes a break with Matthew Quick’s novel "Boy21," the story of a high school basketball star in a small town in Pennsylvania.

Forward Makana Stone ’20 takes to the air in the Elite Eight game against the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, in March. Photo: Steve Woit.

The men’s team tries a different ball game at the Roanoke Pinball Museum during their trip to Virginia. Left to right: Austin Butler ’19, a wing player and psychology major; Jacobs-Jones; forward Ben Beatie ’19, a rhetoric studies major; Head Coach Eric Bridgeland; wing player Jack Stewart ’19; and forward Andrew Harvey ’20.

Guard and art major Casey Poe ’18 (left) and guard and economics major Alysse Ketner ’17 celebrate after the women’s team beats Trinity University in the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 game in St. Paul. Photo: Steve Woit.

Jaron Kirkley ’20 dances with Cynthia—a resident at HopeTree Family Services in Salem, Virginia—during the team’s community outreach before their Final Four matchup.

Whittie fans cheer the men’s basketball team during the Final Four matchup against Babson College in Salem, Virginia, in March.