By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Blue Dragons, ranked 15th in the second NJCAA Division I men’s basketball poll of the season, lost to Kansas City Kansas Community College 79-75 Tuesday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The KCK Blue Devils are ranked No. 24 in the NJCAA Division II poll.
HutchCC led KCK at halftime 40-34. KCK outscored the Blue Dragons 45-35 in the second half.
Mikhail Abdul-Hamid led the Blue Dragons with 17 points, followed by Jaquez Thornton with 16, Bobby Cannon 12 and Dimitrius “DJ” Dudley with 10.
Dudley had 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Isaiah Jackson had 6 rebounds. Cannon blocked 3 shots.
KCK’s BJ Stewart lit up the Blue Dragons with 32 points, 14 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. Jeremiah Lewis had 16 points. Israel Randle had 12 points and 6 assists.
The Blue Dragons, 3-1, defeated Hesston College, Southwestern Christian College in overtime and Labette to start the season.
The Blue Dragons will play two neutral-court games at the Barton Classic at 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Hutchinson will play the Truman State JV on Friday and NOC-Enid on Saturday.
The Blue Dragons will then return to the Barton gym the following Wednesday to take on No. 2 Barton in the KJCCC opener for both teams.
This is the 16th consecutive poll the Blue Dragons have appeared in.
Barton remains No. 2 in the first regular-season poll of the season. Butler, at 5-0, made the biggest jump from out of the rankings in the preseason poll to No. 8 on Tuesday.
Barton, Butler and Hutchinson are the only KJCCC teams in the Top 25. Cowley, Coffeyville and Garden City received votes.
HutchCC football team tied for 2nd in NJCAA Division I poll
The Hutchinson Community College football team moved into a tie for second in the latest NJCAA Division I Football Poll, which was released on Tuesday.
The Blue Dragons (8-1) are in a tie with Georgia Military (10-1) for second with 135 polling points in the latest rankings, which were released this week on Tuesday instead of the normal Monday because of the Veterans Day holiday.
The Blue Dragons defeated Highland 44-0 on Saturday at Gowans Stadium. Georgia Military closed its regular season last Saturday with a 35-33 road win at No. 9 Lackawanna.
Hutchinson’s lone remaining regular-season game is at Garden City at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The No. 2 team in the final NJCAA Rankings will play host to the No. 3 seed in the NJCAA National semifinals on the first weekend in December.
Iowa Western received all 12 first-place votes and remained No. 1. Northwest Mississippi is No. 4 and Snow is No. 5 with Navarro at No. 6.
Northwest Mississippi will play East Central in the Mississippi Conference title game on Saturday.
Navarro plays Cisco in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference semifinals on Saturday. Snow plays Sussex County on Saturday.
Coffeyville is No. 9 this week and Butler is tied with Lackawanna for 11th. Dodge City is receiving votes.
The Blue Dragons tied for the longest consecutive run in the national rankings with their 45th-straight appearance. This matches a run set from 2010 to 2013.
The Dragons have been ranked the nation’s Top 3 for 41 consecutive polls.
HutchCC women’s basketball team still ranked No. 1
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s basketball team (4-0) stayed on top of the NJCAA Division I rankings, released on Tuesday.
Normally the rankings come out on Monday, but because of the Veterans Day holiday, the rankings were delayed 24 hours.
Hutchinson had three decisive wins and a 69-68 cliffhanger over Murray State to open the 2024-25 season. The Blue Dragons received all 12 first-place votes in this week’s rankings.
This week, the Blue Dragons play two neutral-court games on Friday and Saturday in the Barton Classic.
Hutchinson will play the Kansas Wesleyan JV on Friday and Redlands on Saturday. Both games begin at 1 p.m.
The Blue Dragons were scheduled to play Gogebic Community College on Saturday, but that Michigan-based team decided not to play in the classic.
The Blue Dragons have now been ranked No. 1 in six consecutive polls dating back to last season.
The Blue Dragons have appeared in 16 consecutive rankings dating back to the first regular-season poll of the 2023-24 season.
The first regular-season Top 5 has Hutchinson, Northwest Florida State, New Mexico JC, Wabash Valley and Gulf Coast State.
Dodge City made a strong five-spot jump to No. 9 and Garden City appears in the poll at No. 25. Butler is receiving votes this week.
Hutchinson’s Tyler Lawrence named AVCTL Boys Soccer Coach of the Year
Hutchinson High School’s Tyler Lawrence was named the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Boys Soccer Coach of the Year for 2024.
The Hutchinson boys soccer team’s season came to an end with a 4-3 loss in penalty kicks to Andover on Oct. 28 at the Salthawk Soccer Complex.
Hutchinson finished the season with an 11-4-2 record — a four-win improvement from last season.
Hutchinson’s Landon Nusser and Griffin Gaylon were named to the AVCTL First Team. Lucas Witt was named to the Second Team.
Cole Bleything, Alex Johnson, Gael Parra, Jason Prichard, Jair Maciel Hayden Waymire and Jack Yoder were named honorable mention.
Buhler coach Deedra Woodbury, players honored on AVCTL II volleyball team
Buhler High School’s Dedra Woodbury was named Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division III Volleyball Coach of the Year.
Buhler Emerson Waldren was named AVCTL III player of the Year and was named to the First Team along with Breann Ruda.
Crusaders named to the Second Team were Natalya Krafels and Rory Waldren. Gracie Oard was an honorable mention selection.
Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association releases preseason rankings
The Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association released its preseason rankings Tuesday.
The Hutchinson Salthawks are ranked 10th in Class 5A.
Ranked Salthawk wrestlers are Deon Brown, 3rd 106, freshman; Cruz Cannon, 4th 113, sophomore; and Kade Smith, 1st 165, senior.
Area wrestlers ranked in Class 4A are Halstead’s Clayton Considine, 6th 126, senior; Buhler’s Cruz Hershberger, 2nd 144, junior; Nickerson’s Khristopher Monroe, 5th 157, junior; and Halstead’s Connor Herman, 3rd 285, senior.
Hershberger is ranked sixth in All-Class boys at 144 pounds. Smith is rankled 7th in All-Class boys at 157 pounds. Herman is ranked 9th in All-Class boys at 285 pounds.
Haven senior Jacob Moore is ranked 5th at 126 pounds in Class 3-2-1A.
Area girls in the All-Class girls rankings are Buhler junior Kimber Crabbs, 4th, 105 (3rd Class 4A); Halstead senior Kahlyn Davis, 8th, 125; Buhler junior Macey Parks, 6th, 145 (1st Class 4A); Haven senior Trista Rogers, 3rd, 155 (2nd Class 3-2-1A).
Sterling freshman Jacynn Soeken is ranked 4th t 1-5 pounds.