Landon Forbes hits seven 3-pointers as the No. 5 Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team bounced back and topped Barton Community College to begin round two of Jayhawk Conference play. (Blue Dragons Sports/HutchCC Sports Information)
By John Mesh
The No. 5 Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball started a new winning streak by beating Barton Community College 63-46 Wednesday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The No. 23 Hutchinson CC men’s basketball team’s winning streak was snapped with a 91-86 loss to the Barton Community College men’s team.
The Blue Dragon women improved to 18-1 overall (11-1 KJCCC). The Barton Cougar women dropped to 8-11 (4-8 KJCCC).
The Blue Dragon women led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, 32-27 at halftime and 49-37 at the end of the third quarter. HutchCC outscored Barton 14-9 in the fourth quarter.
Hutchinson’s Landon Forbes, a sophomore point guard from Wichita, fired in seven 3-pointers for a season-high 21 points. She also had 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 rebounds.
Hailey Jackson added 19 points and 6 rebounds. Katie Duncan. Madi Denison and Jada Pleasant each scored 6 points. Kahlen Norris had 5 points and 5 rebounds. Pleasant had 4 assists.
The Cougars were led by Regina Donanu with 24 points, including 10-of-25 field goal shooting. Vivian Onugha scored 10 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Onugha is the leading women’s rebounder in NJCAA Division I.
Hutchinson forced 27 turnovers, including 15 combined from Barton post players Onugha and Gertrude Mapiye.
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s team will host Fort Hays Northwest Tech at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Barton men’s team edges Nio. 23 Hutchinson 91-86
Barton, unranked in the latest NJCAA Division I men’s basketball poll, led at halftime 32-31 en route to their second win over No. 23 Hutchinson this season.
The Hutchinson Blue Dragons dropped to 13-6 overall (9-4 KJCCC). The Barton Cougars, the defending NJCAA Division I men’s national champion, improved to 15-4 overall (also 9-4 KJCCC).
Barton now has a seven-game winning streak over Hutchinson, including three wins in the 2023-2024 season.
Barton outlasted the Blue Dragons on a 96-91 overtime win in the first meeting on Nov. 20 in Great Bend.
Hutchinson placed five players in double figures, led by Bo Aldridge and Kobe Smith with 19 points apiece. DJ Dudley scored 17 points, Mikhail Abdul-Hamid 12 and Kahlil Arnold added 11. All of Smith’s points came in the second half.
Aldridge had 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Dudley had 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Bobby Cannon scored 5 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Isaiah Jackson scored 3 points.
The Blue Dragons played without injured sophomore point guard Jaquez Thornton for the fourth straight game.
Barton was paced by Keandre Kindrell with 24 points. Brent Moss had 18 points and 14 rebounds. Aris Rodriguez had 15 points. Eltramon Smith Jr. had 10 points and 9 rebounds. Fontaine Williams added 8 points.
Barton outrebounded Hutchinson 43-34 (22-8 in offensive rebounds).
“I thought Barton played great,” said Hutchinson men’s basketball coach Kyle Fisher during his postgame radio interview. “They played like a team that was frustrated by not being a ranked team (in the polls).
“I thought we guarded fine in our half-court defense. The bottom line is they pounded us on the glass and we gave them too many second chances.”
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon men’s team will host Fort Hays Northwest Tech at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Blue Dragon softball team No. 22 in NJCAA preseason rankings
The defending Region 6 Tournament champion Hutchinson Community College softball team are ranked No. 22 in the NJCAA Division I Softball preseason ranking released on Tuesday.
The Blue Dragons posted a school-record 47 wins last season, going 47-12. The Dragons finished second in the KJCCC behind Butler by two games.
Hutchinson defeated Butler twice in the Region 6 championship game to win its first regional title since 1987 and qualified for the NJCAA National Tournament for the first time in program history.
Beginning her 21st season at Hutchinson, head coach Jaime Rose has one returning starting pitcher and three returning position players from last season.
Sophomore Morgan Tomlinson is the top returning pitcher. She went 16-3 with a 3.08 earned run average. She led a Blue Dragon team that posted a 2.77 ERA. Tomlinson was a first-team all-KJCCC performer last season.
All-Conference shortstop Bailey Backhaus is of three returning starters back from last season. Bailey Backhaus had a Blue Dragon single-season record 104 hits last season and hit .479 with 25 stolen bases.
Bailey’s sister Brooke Backhaus, Hutchinson’s starting first baseman last season hit .374 with 54 RBIs. Outfielder Brie Brawner hit .371 with 37 RBIs.
Hutchinson opens the 2025 season on the road on Friday, Jan. 31 with a doubleheader at Western Oklahoma State in Altus, Okla.
Blue Dragon baseball team No. 23 in NJCAA Division I preseason rankings
The Hutchinson Community College baseball team earned a No. 23 NJCAA preseason ranking on Tuesday.
The Blue Dragons are the defending Jayhawk West champion and Region 6 runners-up.
Hutchinson is the defending Jayhawk West champions after a record-setting 51-13 record. The Blue Dragons won the league with a 27-5 record.
The Dragons advanced all the way to the Region 6 Tournament championship game, forcing a second championship game after dropping the first game of the tournament.
Second-year head coach Brock Nehls returns a pair of position starters and one returning starting pitcher with nine returning players overall from 2024.
Starting pitcher Trenton Roehler went 9-1 with a 1.52 ERA last season. Roehler had 66 strikeouts in 58 innings pitched.
Quinn Maher and A.J. Mustow are returning starting position players.
Maher, a first baseman and designated hitter, hit .329 with five home runs and 51 RBIs. Mustow missed last season, but hit six homers with 44 RBIs.
The Blue Dragons open the 2025 season on Feb. 6 with a doubleheader against Hesston College at Hobart-Detter Field.
Hutchinson girls basketball team plays Dodge City in McPherson tourney opener
The Hutchinson High School girls basketball team will play Dodge City in the first round of the 30th annual Mid-America Girls Basketball Tournament.
The tournament will take place on Jan. 30-31 and Feb. 1 at the McPherson Roundhouse.
The Salthawk girls (5-2), who play at Maize South at 7:30 p.m. Monday in a weather makeup game, will play the Red Demons at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30.
Other first-round games at the McPherson tournament: Olathe South vs. Shawnee Mission East, 3 p.m.; Manhattan vs. Wichita Southeast, 6:10 p.m.; Andover Central vs. McPherson, 7:45 p.m.
The Hutchinson-Dodge City loser plays the Olathe South-Shawnee Mission East loser in the 3 p.m. consolation semifinals on Friday, Jan. 31. The winners play in the winner’s bracket semifinals at 6:10 p.m.
The Manhattan-Wichita Southeast loser plays the Andover Central-McPherson loser at 4:45 p.m. Friday in the other consolation semifinal. The winners play in the 7:45 p.m. winner’s bracket semifinals.
On Saturday, Feb. 1, the seventh-place game is at noon, followed by the fifth-place game at 1:35 p.m., the third-place game at 3:10 p.m. and the championship game at 4:45 p.m.
Derby sweeps Hutchinson varsity, JV, C team girls
The Derby Panthers swept all three of the Hutchinson High School girls basketball teams Tuesday.
In addition to winning the varsity game 51-34, Derby won the junior varsity game 38-31 and the C team game 48-11.
Haven boys defense dominates Liberal
The Haven Wildcats threw their vaunted 1-3-1 zone at the Liberal Redskins Tuesday night at the 55th Adolph Rupp Tournament in Halstead.
Liberal committed 32 turnovers against that defense as the No. 5 Class 3A Haven Wildcats beat Liberal 67-31 Tuesday night on Adolph Rupp Court in Halstead.
The Wildcats led 13-4 at the end of the first quarter, 34-15 at halftime and 54-24 after three quarters. Haven outscored Liberal 13-7 in the fourth quarter.
Nash Wray led Haven with 17 points. Dalton Bontrager added 14. Blake Richey grabbed 6 rebounds.
Juan Diego led Liberal with 6 points. Liberal made 4-of-17 three pointers.
Haven is 9-1 and Liberal is 2-9. Haven plays Winfield in the 7:45 p.m. semifinal Thursday. Winfield defeated Halstead 70-63 in the first round.
Halstead’s Kohen Corona scored 21 points and Braxton Creed scored 13. Keaston Shields grabbed 9 rebounds and Joey Millspaugh grabbed 6 boards.
In other first-round games Monday, Cheney defeated Rose Hill 68-18 and Andale defeated Garden Plain 50-45.
Reno County Sabres girls, boys win Reno County Shootout games
The Reno County Sabres girls and boys basketball teams both were victorious Monday and Tuesday in the first round and semifinals of the Reno County Shootout at Fairfield High School near Langdon.
The Sabres teams will play in the championship games on Friday.
Monday night in Pool A girls action, the Reno County girls defeated Chase 43-25 and Sedgwick defeated Pretty Prairie 53-36 in Pool B. Anne Schawe led the Sabres girls team with 14 points.
In Pool A boys play Monday, Reno County defeated Chase 55-22. Ryan Cass led the Sabres with 17 points. In Pool B, Sedgwick defeated Pretty Prairie 56-42.
On Tuesday, the Reno County Sabres girls defeated Fairfield 43-20 and the Sabre boys defeated Fairfield 62-32.
Megan Asberry led the Reno County girls with 22 points and posted a triple double. Luke Asberry led the Reno County boys with 13 points. Josh Schmidt added 12 points.
Halstead, Cheney, Haven are the top three seeds at 52nd annual Haven girls Wildcat Classic
Halstead, Cheney and Haven will be the top three seeds at the 52nd annual Wildcat Classic girls basketball tournament Jan. 30-Feb. 1 (Thursday-Saturday) at the Haven High School gymnasium.
In the first round Jan. 30 (Friday), No. 1 seed Halstead (9-0) will play No. 8 Maize (3-7) at 3 p.m., followed by No. 4 Towanda-Circle (6-3) vs. No. 5 Valley Center (6-4) at 4:30 p.m., No. 2 Cheney (7-2) vs. No. 7 Andale (5-4) at 6 p.m. and No. 3 Haven (7-2) vs. No. 6 Garden Plain (5-4) at 7:30 p.m.
The Halstead-Maize loser plays the Circle-Valley Center loser in the consolation semifinal at 3 p.m. Friday. The 4:30 p.m. consolation semifinal Friday features the Cheney-Andale loser against the Haven-Garden Plain loser.
The Halstead-Maize winner plays the Circle-Valley Center winner in the semifinal at 6 p.m. Friday. The 7:30 p.m. semifinal Friday features the Cheney-Andale winner against the Haven-Garden Plain winner.
On Saturday, the seventh-place game is at 11 a.m., followed by the fifth-place game at 12:30 p.m., the third-place game at 2 p.m. and the championship at 2 p.m.
Hutchinson, Buhler will host regional bowling tournaments
Buhler High School will host a Kansas Class 4-1A bowling regional Feb. 26 at The Alley in Hutchinson.
Hutchinson High School will host a Kansas Class 5A bowling regional Feb. 27, also at the Alley in Hutchinson.
The girls competition starts at 9:40 a.m. for both 4A and 5A, followed by the boys at 1:10 p.m.
Other schools competing in the 4-1A regional are Hesston, Holcomb, Smoky Valley, McPherson, Salina Sacred Heart and Solomon.
The schools for the 5A regional were not listed on KSHSAA website.