Graphic courtesy of Blue Dragon Sports Information
By John Mesh
The “Cardiac Blue Dragons” got a 3-point play (2-point shot and a game-winning free throw) with 2.3 seconds left in regulation play from Dimitrius “DJ” Dudley to beat the Colby Trojans 81-80 Tuesday night at the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson Community College scored 18 points in the final 98 seconds to pull off the come-from-behind victory. Hutchinson was down 77-72 with less than a minute left in the game.
“Offensively, we can be a pretty good team,” said first-year HutchCC men’s basketball coach Kyle Fisher during his radio postgame interview. “They’re a pretty good defensive team (Colby). What a game! I think it’s going to be like this the rest of the of year.”
Dudley finished with 29 points, including 4–of-6 3-pointers and 7-of-9 free throw shooting. Kahlil Arnold sparked the Blue Dragons with 14 points off the bench. Bobby Cannon also came off the bench to score 12 points.
Jaquez Thornton scored 7 points, Isaiah Jackson 4, Mikhail Abdul-Hamid 3 and Kobe Smith 1.
Eternity Eguagie led the Trojans with 22 points. Gaius Meowuru M’Ella scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Khadir Muhammad scored 12 points.
Aliou Diallo chipped in with 8 points, Nana Keutcha 6 and D.J. Cason 6.
Colby outrebounded Hutchinson 43-30 (15-11 on the offensive glass).
The Blue Dragon men, who have played three overtime games already this season, improved to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
The Colby Trojans dropped to 6-3 overall and 1-2 KJCCC.
HutchCC women 75, Colby 37
The No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s basketball team (9-0, 3-0 KJCCC) romped past the Colby Community College Trojans (6-3, 1-2 KJCCC) 75-37 Tuesday night.
The No. 1-ranked HutchCC women played their first game in the Hutchinson Sports Arena in 17 days.
The Blue Dragons led the Trojans 22-9 at the end of the first quarter, 41-11 at halftime and 56-21 at the end of the third quarter. HutchCC added a 19-16 fourth quarter.
Hutchinson had 15 assists on 24 made field goals. The Blue Dragons made 11-of-27 3-pointers, outrebounded Colby 46-36 and forced 23 turnovers.
Hutchinson’s Hailey Jackson, nominated for KJCCC Player of the Week, led the Blue Dragons with 24 points, 14 rebounds and 4 steals.
Katie Duncan scored 12 points, Landon Forbes 10, Dylan Alexander 10 and Brynne Katcher 8. Jaden Wilson added 5, Kahlen Norris 3 and Honey Cooney 3.
Katcher grabbed 9 rebounds. Forbes had 5 steals and Alexander 4. Cooney had 5 assists and Forbes 4. Forbes and Jada Pleasant each had 1 blocked shot.
Jera Kruleski was Colby’s top scorer with 8 points and Easha Potts added 6. Kylee Hahn grabbed 7 rebounds. Piri Lewis had 5 assists and 4 steals. Sophie Bennett and Sofia Lopez each had 3 blocked shots.
Hutchinson women’s coach John Ontjes has a career record of 492-96 (284-37 in Jayhawk Conference play). The Blue Dragon women now have won 46 consecutive games.
Hutchinson schedule through December
Hutchinson’s teams play at Independence Community College Saturday. The women’s game starts at 2 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 4 p.m.
HutchCC teams play three games in December. The Blue Dragons host Coffeyville Dec. 4 (5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) and Garden City on Dec. 11 (5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.).
The Blue Dragons finish the first semester Dec. 14 at Cloud County (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.).