Graphic courtesy of Blue Dragon Sports Information
By John Mesh
The 500th career victory for Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball coach John Ontjes did not come easily even though the final score says otherwise.
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon men’s basketball team won its sixth straight game with a 67-50 victory over Seward County.
After a slow start, the Hutchinson women finally got the offense going in the second quarter and posted a 52-40 victory over the Saints Wednesday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The Seward County women led the Blue Dragon women 7-6 at the end of the first quarter. HutchCC led at halftime 21-16 and 38-29 at the end of the third quarter. Hutchinson outscored Seward County 14-11 in the fourth quarter.
By scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, Hutchinson’s Hailey Jackson recorded her eighth “double-double” of the season (double figures in two statistical categories) and 10th of her career.
Jackson, the leading women’s scorer in the Jayhawk Conference, recorded her seventh 20-point game of the season and 11th of her career. She averages 18 points a game.
Madi Denison and Jada Pleasant each scored 10 points. Pleaant had 7 rebounds and Denison 6. Brynne Katcher scored 6 points. Landon Forbes scored 3 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Katie Duncan scored 2 points.
Ari Gordon led the Saints with 15 points. Kylee Hunt scored 9 points and Avery Marchison 8. Allie Myers grabbed 7 rebounds.
The Blue Dragons improved to 17-0 overall and 11-0 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. The Saints dropped to 11-6 overall (6-5 KJCCC).
Hutchinson has won 54 consecutive games and 39 straight Jayhawk Conference games.
Now in his 18th season as Blue Dragon women’s basketball coach, Ontjes has posted a career record of 500 wins, 96 losses.
The 500 career wins rank No. 2 in KJCCC history and Region 6 history behind Cloud County’s Brett Erkenbrack, who won his 750th game last Saturday.
Ontjes has led the Blue Dragons to 10 KJCCC titles, eight Region 6 crowns, 11 appearances in the NJCAA Tournament, five trips to the NJCAA Tournament semifinals and the 2024 NJCAA national championship.
The Hutchinson women play a 1 p.m. Jayhawk Conference game Saturday against Dodge City Community College at DC3 Student Events Center in Dodge City.
DJ Dudley leads Blue Dragon men’s basketball team past Seward County
Hutchinson Community College’s DJ Dudley scored 25 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished off 5 assists to lead the Blue Dragon men’s basketball team past Seward County.
The Blue Dragons led 34-29 at halftime and outscored the Saints 31-21 in the second half.
“It was a good win for us,” said first-year Hutchinson men’s basketball coach Kyle Fisher on his postgame radio interview. “Every win in this league (Jayhawk Conference) is a good win. Because they slowed the game down, I’m not sure we ever got into the flow of the game. It’s good to see us buckle down and guard (play defense).”
Kahlil Arnold and Bobby Cannon each scored 11 points. Mikhail Abdul-Hamid added 7 points. Bo Aldridge had 6 points and 7 rebounds. Kobe Smith scored 3 points. Emmanuel Okitando and Isaiah Jackson scored 2 points each.
Jackson also grabbed 9 boards. The Blue Dragons blocked 7 shots, including 3 for Cannon.
Muhammed Jobe had 20 points and 7 rebounds for the Saints. Benni Kazadi added 11 points. Kiku Parker scored 8 points and Nfaba Mane 7.
The Blue Dragon men’s team improved to 12-5 overall (8-3 KJCCC). The Saints lost their sixth straight game and dropped to 2-14 overall (1-10 KJCCC).
Wednesday’s game was the 118th all-time matchup in a series that began in 1970. The Blue Dragons own an 87-31 all-time lead, including 51-6 in games played at the Sports Arena.
The Hutchinson men play a 3 p.m. Jayhawk Conference game Saturday against Dodge City Community College at DC3 Student Events Center in Dodge City.
The Seward County game and Saturday’s game at Dodge City will conclude the first half of the Jayhawk Conference schedule for the Blue Dragons.
National champion Blue Dragon football team honored at halftime of HutchCC-Seward men’s basketball game
The national champion Hutchinson Blue Dragon football team, coached by Drew Dallas, was honored at halftime of the HutchCC-Seward men’s basketball game.
The Blue Dragon football team rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to defeat Iowa Western 28-23 in the national championship game Dec. 18, 2024, at Canyon, Texas.
Hutchinson Trinity Catholic girls basketball team gets first win of the season
A trio of sophomores led the Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School girls basketball team to a 48-38 victory over Tuesday night at the Trinity gymnasium.
The win was the Trinity Celtic girls’ first victory of the season against seven losses.
The Hutchinson Trinity boys, who got their first win of the season on Monday against Marion, lost to Ell-Saline 64-51. The Celtic boys also are 1-7.
Sophomore Cienna Maskil scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Sophomore Alex Suter-Tan scored 15 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 4 steals. Sophomore Brecken Dowsey added 9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists.
“We had a solid team effort tonight in our first win of the season over Ell-Saline,” said Hutchinson Trinity girls basketball coach Shannon Obermite.
“We got strong efforts from our starters and great support from players off the bench. We are a young team. We’re getting better and more experienced every game.”
In the Trinity girls’ 52-16 loss to Marion Monday night at the Trinity gymnasium, Maskill led the Celtics with 8 points and 7 rebounds.
The Hutchinson Trinity boys and girls will play at Remington Friday night.
In other matchups Friday night, Hutchinson hosts Great Bend, Buhler plays at Clearwater, Nickerson plays at Smoky Valley, Andale plays at Haven, Bennington plays at Sterling, Hutchinson Central Christian plays at Stafford, Burrton boys play at Attica, Cunningham plays at Kiowa-South Barber, Pretty Prairie plays at Norwich and Little River plays at Rural Vista.
Little River hosts Rural Vista on Saturday.
Buhler boys swim team 1st, Hutchinson 4th at Hutchinson Invitational
The Buhler High School Crusader boys captured the team title at the Hutchinson Invitational Tuesday at the YMCA pool and the host Hutchinson Salthawks placed fourth.
Buhler placed first with 528 points, followed by Andover 461, Garden City 305, Hutchinson 246, Goddard Eisenhower 239, Dodge City 223, Liberal 71 and Bennington 30.
Hutchinson results
200-yard medley relay: 10.Hutchinson A (Eliott Simpson, Tate Collins, Kye Reneau, Daniel Morales), 2:21.54.
200 freestyle: 3.Logan Most 2:01.89, 14.Kye Reneau 2:33.48, 15.Gibson Malashchuk 2:38.68.
200 IM: 6.Jordon Graham 2:34.91, 11.Ethan Nichols 2:55.56.
50 freestyle: 16.Zae Gullien 29.99, 19.Griffin Davenport 30.16, 26.Daniel Morales 32.08.
100 butterfly: 10.Kyle Reneau 1:19.34.
100 freestyle: 16.Zae Gullien 1:08.23, 17.Eliott Simpson 1:08.96, 21.Griffin Davenport 1:12.94, 23.Daniel Morales 1:13.47.
500 freestyle: 2.Logan Most 5:42.66, 11.Tate Collins 6:57.43, 12.Gibson Malashchuk 7:05.69.
200 freestyle relay: 5.Hutchinson A (Jordon Graham, Tate Collins, Ethan Nichols, Logan Most), 1:50.14; Hutchinson B (Griffin Davenport, Rye Reneau, Gibson Malashchuk, Zae Guillen), 2:06.84.
100 backstroke: 6.Jordon Graham 1:09.02, 10.Eliott Simpson 1:17.72.
100 breaststroke: 7.Ethan Nichols, 1:20.40; 11.Tate Collins 1:27.99.
400 freestyle relay: 3.Hutchinson (Logan Most, Zae Guillen, Ethan Nichols, Jordon Graham) 4:07.91; 8.Hutchinson (Gibson Malashchuk, Eliott Simpson, Daniel Morales, Griffin Davenport) 4:49.66.
Hutchinson’s Jacob Bofink places 1st, Salthawk boys, girls bowlers 1st in home triangular
Hutchinson High School’s Jacob Bofink was the first-place boys winner at Tuesday’s Hutchinson Triangular bowling tournament at The Alley in Hutchinson.
Bofink placed 19th at the Kansas Class 5A state bowling tournament in 2024.
The Hutchinson varsity boys and varsity girls each placed first.
Tanner Cunningham placed third in the varsity boys competition and Naddilyn Wellington was third overall in varsity girls competition.
Hutchinson will host another triangular at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at The Alley.
Buhler bowlers sweep matches at Augusta
The Buhler High School bowling team swept Augusta in varsity boys, varsity girls, junior varsity boys and junior varsity competition Tuesday at Holiday Bowl in Augusta.
The next match for the Crusader bowlers is a triangular against Wichita Central Christian Academy and Solomon next Tuesday at The Alley in Hutchinson.
Varsity Boys
Buhler: 2174
Augusta: 2139
High Game: Malachi Willis – 235
High Series: Malachi Willis – 543
Varsity Girls
Buhler: 1945
Augusta: 1432
High Game: Brayla Johnson – 190
High Series: Cheyann Geesling – 488
JV Boys
Buhler: 1769
Augusta: 1456
High Game: Dominic Gaede – 179
High Series: Dominic Gaede – 445
JV Girls
Buhler: 1443
Augusta: 895
High Game: Brynn Treaster – 173
High Series: Brynn Treaster – 424
Varsity Boys
Malachi Willis: 125, 183, 235 = 543
Julian Morrison: 187, 177, 177 = 541
Logan Brown: 176, 174, 183 = 533
Rylan Klug: 171, 169, 165 = 505
Trevor Trustian: 140, 189, 142 = 471
Carson White: 157, 172, 142 = 471
Varsity Girls
Cheyann Geesling: 179, 166, 143 = 488
Macy Miller: 130, 161, 188 = 479
Eva Goertz: 167, 159, 152 = 478
Brayla Johnson: 190, 132, 145 = 467
Aubrey Ewing: 144, 137, 156 = 437
Madalyn Bohringer 95, 138, 109 = 342
JV Boys
Dominic Gaede: 109, 157, 179 = 445
Kadin Glass: 112, 174, 136 = 422
Collin Schwartzkopf: 124, 114, 171 = 409
Gaven Bowers: 162, 118, 114 = 394
Keenan Johnson: 159, 92, 138 = 389
Blake Mourn: 137, 114, 119 = 370
JV Girls
Brynn Treaster: 117, 173, 134 = 424
Baylee Krase: 149, 92, 95 = 336
Lelani Strodtman: 129, 101, 104 = 334
Juliette Shank: 95, 112, 120 = 327
Cora Nuttmann: 98, 111, 90 = 299
Keelee Bryant: 83, 86, 74 = 243
Area wrestlers ranked by Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association
Several area wrestlers were ranked the latest Kansas Wrestling Coaches Association poll released on Tuesday.
In All-Class girls. Sterling freshman Jacynn Boeken is ranked eighth at 105 pounds and Halstead senior is ranked 10th at 130 pounds.
In Class 4A girls, Boeken is ranked fourth at 130 pounds, Buhler sophomore Lillie Ledford is ranked fourth at 135 pounds, Buhler junior Macey Parks is rankled second at 145 pounds and Nickerson junior Elizabeth Dick is third at 235 pounds.
In 321A girls, Boeken is ranked first at 105 pounds, Lyons freshman Taylor Baxter is third at 100 pounds, Lyons junior Kennedy Grizzle is third at 110 pounds and Haven senior Trista Rogers is second at 155 pounds.
In All-Class boys, Hutchinson sophomore Cruz Cannon is ninth at 113 pounds, Buhler senior Cruz Hershberger is sixth at 144 pounds, Hutchinson senior Max Harris is sixth at 157 pounds and Hutchinson senior Kade Smith is seventh at 165 pounds.
In Class 5A boys, Cannon is third at 113 pounds, Max Harris is second at 157 pounds and Smith is first at 165 pounds.
In Class 4A boys, Buhler junior Sammy Hersberger and Halstead senior Clayton Considine are fifth and sixth at 132 pounds, Buhler senior Cruz Hershberger is third at 144 pounds and Buhler junior Luke Kearns is sixth at 165 pounds.
In Class 321A boys, Lyons freshman Marius Lee is fifth at 106 pounds, Haven senior Jacob Moore is third at 126 pounds and Lyons sophomore Jace Grizzle is second at 150 pounds.