The win itself was important. Temple College entered Saturday afternoon knowing that a home victory over Southwestern Christian would clinch the Leopards’ 10th consecutive berth in the NJCAA Region V Tournament and their 20th postseason trip in 21 years.
And fueled by Kedrian Johnson’s 28 points, Khouri Perkins’ 17 and Carlton Linguard’s 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks, Temple’s short-handed roster was sufficient to roll to an 85-56 win over the last-place Rams, securing the Leopards’ regional ticket.
However, the reason that so many people poured into TC Gym wasn’t the game itself as much as it was the opportunity to watch Kirby Johnson coach there one more time and to honor the 65-year-old Temple native for 43 total seasons of successful service.
About 75 of Johnson’s former players — those he coached in 33 seasons at TC and also ones from Temple High School in the 1980s and even Lubbock’s Smylie Wilson Middle School in the late 1970s — showed up to support and thank the soon-to-retire coach in his home finale.
During the game’s final minute, fans gave Kirby Johnson a standing ovation and chanted, “Kirby! Kirby!”
“It’s really special. This was all about the players,” he said afterward while holding hands with his 3-year-old granddaughter, Collins Campbell. “They meant as much to me as I meant to them. What a treat.”
The coach’s sons, Tyler and Tanner, sat with him on an increasingly thin TC bench, with injuries and player departures leaving the Leopards with only seven available players for the season’s final games.
But after a sluggish start, Temple (24-5, 8-5 Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference) took control and pulled away from Southwestern Christian (6-24, 0-14). With 22 points, Kavon Freeman was the Rams’ only double-figure scorer.
Blocked shots by Linguard, a 6-foot-11 freshman forward, led to back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman guard Perkins, and Johnson’s three-point play helped Temple put together a 14-2 run to build a 42-22 halftime advantage.
Hugo Florestedt’s three-point play, another Perkins 3 and Johnson’s finger-roll hoop quickly pushed TC’s lead to 30 early in the second half, and the Leopards cruised, even though Linguard and Florestedt fouled out.
“I’m just glad that we won and we’re in the playoffs,” said Kirby Johnson, whose team will be the NTJCAC’s No. 4 seed and play the top seed from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference in a Region V quarterfinal at 1 p.m. on March 4 at Abilene Christian.
“It just feels good to win with all the problems we’ve had off the court and injuries,” said Kedrian Johnson, the West Virginia-signed sophomore guard who is the leading scorer in the modern era of TC basketball with 1,506 points. “I was a little emotional because it was my last game here, too. We couldn’t lose in front of all these people. It was motivation.”
After Kirby Johnson recorded his 715th win at TC — he also had 109 in five seasons as the Temple Wildcats’ coach from 1982-87 — he gathered with his family and former players on the court for hugs and pictures.
The only player he coached who went on to the NBA was high-scoring guard David Wesley, who played for Johnson’s second TC team in 1988-89. Johnson didn’t think Wesley would be able to attend Saturday, but his old guard surprised him.
“I was just shocked,” the coach said.
Corey Harbert was a freshman guard for the 2004-05 Leopards, who compiled a 30-0 regular season and finished 31-1.
“It’s almost like we never left,” Harbert, from San Antonio, said of returning to TC Gym. “Coach Kirby, the biggest thing is he’s just a great person. That speaks the loudest.”
In 1987, then-TC athletic director Danny Scott hired the 32-year-old Johnson to succeed him as Leopards coach.
“We needed to get someone local who could win,” Scott, 82, said. “He’s been amazing for 33 years as a coach, teacher, Christian man and great friend, just the whole package.”
In a well-attended postgame reception at Temple College Pavilion, Johnson reflected on his career.
“(My wife) said yesterday, ‘Tomorrow is your payoff,’” he said. “You players meant so much to me and my family. I hope I was a positive influence somewhere along the way.”
