Graphic courtesy of Blue Dragon Sports Information
By John Mesh
The No. 23 Hutchinson Blue Dragon men’s basketball team was stunned by Fort Hays Tech Northwest 75-61 Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Hutchinson suffered its first loss ever to the Tigers at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons have lost twice to the Tigers in the 12-year history of the series.
The No. 5 Hutchinson women’s basketball team overpowered the Fort Hays Tech Northwest 114-39 at the Sports Arena.
The HutchCC men fell to 13-7 overall (9-5 KJCCC). Hutchinson has lost two games in a row after getting back in the NJCAA Division rankings last week.
The Blue Dragon women improved to 19-1 overall (13-1 KJCCC) with a 114-39 victory over the Tigers.
The Fort Hays Tech Northwest men improved to 6-12 overall (4-10 KJCCC) and the women dropped to 1-17 overall (1-13 KJCCC).
“We are really disappointed in the way we played,” said Hutchinson men’s basketball coach Kyle Fisher during his postgame radio interview.
“I thought we had two really good days of practice before the game and we came out flat in the first half. We couldn’t keep them out of the paint and off the glass.”
The Tigers played the Blue Dragons tough in the first half. Hutchinson tied the game at 17-17, 19-19 and 20-20. Bobby Cannon’s 3-pointer with 3:14 left in the first half gave HutchCC a 28-27 lead, its first lead since 2-0.
The Blue Dragons led the Tigers 31-29 at halftime but were outscored 46-30 in the second half. The Tigers led 44-39 with 14:06 left in the second half.
HutchCC’s Bo Aldridge went coast to coast for a dunk to cut the Tigers’ lead to 44-43.
The Tigers led 66-57 with about 3 minutes left in the game and pushed the final margin to 14.
Chase Harris led the Tigers with 23 points, including 19 in the second half. Kalik Sharpe scored 16 points and Harold Thompkins 10 (including two 3-pointers). Thompkins grabbed 7 rebounds.
Aldridge led the Blue Dragons with 19 points. Khalil Arnold scored 11 points and DJ Dudley 10. Cannon had 9 points and 8 rebounds.
Mikhail Abdul-Hamid added 5 points, Kobe Smith 4, Amari Davis 2 and Isaiah Jackson 1.
Aldridge had 6 rebounds and David 5. Dudley had 3 assists. Cannon blocked 3 shots. Arnold had 3 steals.
The Hutchinson and Fort Hays Tech Northwest men’s teams played an overtime game in their first meeting of the season on Nov. 23 in Goodland. The Blue Dragons prevailed 94-89.
The Hutchinson men will travel to Colby Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Trojans in the Colby Events Center.
The Blue Dragon men will host Independence at 4 p.m. next Saturday (Feb. 1).
Hutchinson women 114, Fort Hays Tech Northwest 39
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon women jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first few minutes en route to a 29-7 first quarter. Hailey Jackson scored 15 of the Dragons’ 29 points.
Hutchinson outscored the Tigers 24-8 in the second quarter for a 53-15 halftime lead. Madi Denison scored 8 points in the second quarter for the Blue Dragons.
The Blue Dragons outscored the Tigers 27-10 in the third quarter for an 80-25 lead.
Hutchinson put together a 34-14 fourth quarter to reach the 114-point mark, the most a HutchCC team has scored against Fort Hays Tech Northwest.
Jackson scored 17 points in just 12 minutes of playing time. She moved into 20th place on the all-time points list for Blue Dragon women’s basketball.
Jackson came into the Fort Hays Tech Northwest game with 821 points and now has 838. Taylor Stahly (now Taylor Stahly Reed) scored 830 points for the Blue Dragons from 2015-2017.
Stahly played two seasons at Louisiana Tech and has been associate head women’s coach at Houston Christian University for the last six seasons.
All 11 Blue Dragons that suited up for the game cracked the scorebook. Katie Duncan missed the game with an illness. Six Dragons scored in double figures, led by Jackson’s 17 points.
Noelle Anthon scored a career-high 16 points, eclipsing the 11 she scored in Hutchinson’s 88-35 victory over the Tigers on Nov. 23 in Goodland.
Landon Fornes and Brynne Katcher each scored 15 points. Jada Pleasant scored 13 points and Jaden Wilson 10.
Madi Denison and Zhane Singer each scored 8 points, Carly Dameron 7, Honey Cooney 3 and Kahlen Norris 2.
Katcher and Singer each grabbed 10 rebounds. Katcher and Cooney each had 6 assists. Forbes and Norris each had 5 assists.
The Blue Dragons had 30 assists on 42 field goals. The 30 assists is one short of the team’s season-high of 31 set during the Blue Dragons’ 122-70 victory over Neosho County on Nov. 5.
Alicia Garrido Lamas led the short-handed Tiger women’s squad with 13 points. Al’asia Brown scored 8 points, Mirriam Mbulito Upolo 6, Aleighcea Kuntz 5, Traysha Newsome 5 and Sarah Elfrey 2.
Hutchinson has won 15 consecutive games over the Tigers and are 16-1 overall in a series that began in 2013.
The Dragon women extended their home winning streak to 27 games.
The 75-point margin is a record against the Tigers and is tied for sixth place for all-time margin of victory in the history of the HutchCC women’s program.
John Ontjes coached in his 599th game in 18 years as HutchCC women’s coach.
Ontjes’ overall record is 502-97 overall (280-31 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, 289-57 KJCC, 342-71 in KJCCC/Region VI). He is one of 19 coaches in the country with 500+ wins.
Ontjes notched his 500th win in 596 games, the fastest-ever to accomplish the milestone.
The Hutchinson women will travel to Colby Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. game against the Trojans in the Colby Events Center.
The Blue Dragon women will host Independence at 2 p.m. next Saturday (Feb. 1).