By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon men’s and women’s basketball teams will be on the road this week.
The Blue Dragon teams will travel to El Dorado Wednesday to play the Butler Community College Grizzlies at the Power Plant.
The women’s game starts at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 7:30 p.m.
HutchCC teams play at Pratt Community College on Saturday. The women’s game starts at 2 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 4 p.m.
The HutchCC women, winners of 51 straight games, are 14-0 overall (8-0 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference). The HutchCC men are 9-5 overall (5-3 KJCCC).
Blue Dragon athletes dominate in the classroom
Hutchinson Community College athletes dominated in the classroom as much as they dominated on the courts and playing fields during the 2024 fall semester.
• 185 student-athletes earned grade point averages of 3.0+.
• 117 earned 3.5+ GPAs.
• 55 earned 4.0 GPAs.
• 9 teams posted 3.0+ GPAs.
Hutchinson Trinity-Serling boys games will be rescheduled
The Hutchinson Trinity Catholic at Sterling girls and boys basketball games scheduled for Tuesday was postponed and will be rescheduled.
Trinity athletic director Greg Stecker said Trinity and Sterling are working on a makeup date.
Latest KBA rankings: Haven girls 3rd, Wildcat boys 5th in Class 3A
The Haven High School girls are ranked third and the Haven boys are fifth in Class 3A in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll released on Tuesday.
The next poll will be released next Tuesday (Jan. 14).
Other area teams ranked by the KBCA are Halstead girls, second in Class 3A; Sterling boys, second in 2A; and Buhler girls, ninth in Class 4A.
The No. 1 girls teams in the KBCA rankings are Blue Valley North, Class 6A; Topeka Seaman, Class 5A; Wellington, Class 4A; Hesston, Class 3A; Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan, Class 2A; Little River, first in Class 1A Division I; and Hanover, Class 1A Division II.
The No. 1 boys teams are Shawnee Mission Northwest, Class 6A; Highland Park, Class 5A; Baldwin, Class 4A; Wichita Collegiate, Class 3A; Moundridge, Class 2A; South Central Class 1A Division I; and Cunningham, Class 1A Division II.
Reno County Sabres-SVHE basketball games postponed to Feb. 13
Because of continued poor road conditions, the Reno County Sabres Homeschool teams’ Tuesday home games against Smoky Valley Home Educators have been postponed to Feb. 13 at Partridge.
The Sabres are scheduled to play Friday at Flint Hills Christian School-Manhattan weather permitting. The first games start at 3 p.m.
The Reno County Sabres Homeschool basketball teams played last weekend (Friday and Saturday) at the Wichita New Year’s Classic.
The Sabres’ junior high school girls A team placed first, the junior high boys A team placed first and high school junior varsity boys placed third in the tournament.
The Reno County varsity boys, junior varsity girls, junior high school girls B team and junior high boys C team also competed well in the tournament, according to Sabres’ coaches.
Buhler’s Morgan, Trinity’s Wannamaker, Inman’s Cearley honored by KCCTFCA
Buhler High School’s Curtis Morgan, Hutchinson Trinity Catholic’s Jarod Wannamaker and Inman’s Clayton Cearley recently were honored by the Kansas Cross County and Track and Field Coaches Association.
Morgan was named 2024 Class 4A Girls Coach of the Year, Wannamaker is the 2024 2A Boys Coach of the Year and Cearley is the 2024 2A Girls Track and Field Head Coach of the Year.
In 2019 and 2021, Morgan was the 4A Boys Cross Country Coach of the Year. He has coached the Crusader boys to state titles in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023 and the girls to state titles in 2019 and 2024.
In 2022, Inman’s Lance Sawyer was 2A Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year.
Fort Hays State-UNK games postponed to Feb. 26
The men’s and women’s basketball contests between Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney originally scheduled for Tuesday were postponed to Wednesday, Feb. 26, due to continuing travel concerns caused by inclement weather.
The Fort Hays State men’s team features Hutchinson Trinity Catholic graduates Lucas Hammeke (6-foot junior) and Kaleb Hammeke (6-0 graduate student), as well as Maize’s Kyle Grill (6-6 sophomore).
Kaleb Hammeke leads the Tigers (9-4 overall, 2-2 MIAA) in scoring at 15.1 points a game, Grill averages 11.7 ppg and Lucas Hammeke 2 ppg.
The women’s game starts at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 7:30 p.m.
The Tigers will return to action on Thursday when they host Emporia State beginning at 5:30 p.m. for the women and 7:30 p.m. for the men.