By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team defeated Colby on Nov. 26 at the Sports Arena 81-80.
Wednesday night at the Colby Event Center, the Blue Dragons edged the Trojans 65-63 on a 3-pointer by DJ Dudley with 33 seconds left.
The No. 5 Hutchinson women defeated Colby 84-57 in John Ontjes’ 600th games as head coach.
The Blue Dragon men’s team improved to 14-7 overall (10-5 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference). The Colby Trojans dropped to 11-10 overall (6-8 KJCCC).
Hutchinson snapped its two-game losing streak. Colby Community College has lost three straight games.
“I was happy with the results — happy to win a game like this,” said Hutchinson men’s coach Kyle Fisher. “Colby delivered a lot of body blows (the Trojans had 5-point lead in the first half and a 5-point lead in the second half). We struggled on the offensive glass. One of our keys was getting second chances. There’s no excuse why we can’t get our own offensive rebounds.”
Colby led 12-11 at the under-12-minute timeout in the first half, the Blue Dragons led 17-16 at the under-8-minute timeout and Colby led 26-24 with 4:03 left in the first half. Hutchinson led at halftime 33-29.
The Blue Dragons led 39-36 at the under-16-minute timeout (15:41) in the second half. The score was tied at 47-47 at the under-12-minute timeout (11:34) and 51-51 at the under-8-minute timeout (7:17) left in the game. Colby led 58-55 at the under-4-minute timeout (3:29 left in the game).
The Blue Dragons won the game with a 10-5 final spurt.
Mikhail Abdul-Hamid led the Blue Dragons with 20 points, including five 3-pointers. Dudley scored 13 points, Isaiah Jackson 9, Bobby Cannon 5, Kahlil Arnold 4, Amari Davis 2 and Kobe Smith 2. Aldridge and Arnold each grabbed 5 rebounds. Dudley had 3 assists and 2 steals.
Eternity Eguagie led the Trojans with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Maxence Massadila added 10 points and 5 assists. Khadir Muhammad scored 9 points, Gaius Meowuru M’Ella 9 and DJ Cason 8.
Colby outrebounded Hutchinson 34-27, including an 11-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Blue Dragons made 7-of-28 3-pointers, including an 0-for-13 stretch.
The Blue Dragon men’s basketball team hosts Independence at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Blue Dragons play Coffeyville Community College on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
HutchCC women’s coach John Ontjes victorious in his 600th game
Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball coach John Ontjes was on the bench and sidelines for the 600th time and got his 503rd victory Tuesday night at the Colby Events Center.
The No. 5 Blue Dragon women powered past the Colby Trojans 84-57. HutchCC has won 21 straight games against the Trojans.
Hutchinson, with its third straight win after having a 54-game winning streak snapped, improved to 20-1 overall (13-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference). Colby fell to 12-9 overall (7-7 KJCCC).
Hutchinson started the game on a 19-4 run to start the game and led 22-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Blue Dragons made 9 of their first 11 shots.
Hutchinson outscored the Trojans 22-18 in the second quarter and took a 43-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. Jada Pleasant hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, her fourth 3-pointer of the opening 20 minutes. Pleasant’s bucket ended a 7-0 run. The Trojans started the second quarter on a 6-0 run.
The Blue Dragon women led 62-40 at the end of third quarter outscored the Trojans 22-17 in the fourth quarter. Hutchinson’s biggest lead was 28 points.
Hailey Jackson posted her eighth double-double and 12th of her career with 22 points and 11 rebounds. She also dished off a career-high 6 assists. She now has scored 860 career points and has moved into 17th place on the HutchCC women’s all-time scoring list.
Jackson passed Jada Mickens (854 points in 2017-19) and Kim Kroupa (855 points in 1989-91). Next on the list are Amanda Fessenden (864 in 2006-08), Natasha McAtee (866 in 1990-92) and Sherry Dishman (874 in 1982-84).
Jada Pleasant scored 15 points, making all five of her 3-point shots. Katie Duncan scored 13 points (including two 3-pointers), Brynne Katcher 11 and Landon Forbes 10.
Madi Denison scored 6 points, Kahlen Norris 3, Noelle Anthon 2 and Carly Dameron 2.
Dessirae Ulmer led Colby with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Ishante Suttington scored 17 points. Easha Potts added 9 points and 6 rebounds.
Ontjes’ overall record in 18 seasons is 503-97 (the second-most wins in KJCCC history). He is one of 19 coaches in the country with 500+ wins. He reached his 500th win in his 596th game, the fastest-ever to accomplish the milestone.
Colby women’s basketball coach Darin Spence has 359 wins — the eighth most in league history.
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s basketball team hosts Independence at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Blue Dragons play Coffeyville Community College on the road at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Landon Forbes named KJCCC Division I Women’s Player of the Week
HutchCC sophomore point guard Landon Forbes on Tuesday became the second Blue Dragon this season win the KJCCC Division I Women’s Basketball Player of the Week award.
Forbes had her best week as a Blue Dragon in leading No. 5 Hutchinson to a pair of wins last week. She averaged 18 points and 5 assists per game in wins over Barton and Fort Hays Tech Northwest. She sizzled from 3-point range hitting 12 of 19 shots from distance.
Against Barton, Forbes scored a career-high 21 points, hitting seven 3-pointers. That was only the 14th time in Blue Dragon history a player had at least seven 3-pointers in a game.
Against, Tech, Forbes had 15 points on 5 of 6 3-point shooting.
Forbes joins Hailey Jackson as Blue Dragons to earn conference weekly honors. Jackson has won the award twice this season.
Hutchinson JV, C team boys fall to Derby
The Hutchinson High School boys junior varsity and C team boys basketball teams lost to Derby Tuesday night at the Salthawk Activities Center.
The Salthawk JV boys lost 64-34 and the C team lost 76-27.
Alex Suter-Tan scores 16 points in Trinity girls’ loss to Smoky Valley
The Hutchinson Trinity Catholic Celtic girls lost to Smoky Valley 50-36 Tuesday night.
The Celtic girls were led by sophomore Alex Suter-Tan with 16 points, 8 steals, 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
The Trinity boys defeated Smoky Valley 52-30.
Buhler boys 1st, Hutchinson 5th at Buhler swim meet
The Buhler High School boys swim team won the Buhler Invitational at the Hutchinson YMCA pool Tuesday with 587 points and Hutchinson placed fifth with 216.
Maize High School placed second with 504.5 points, followed by Maize South with 424 and McPherson 227.5. Rose Hill placed sixth with 176 and El Dorado was seventh with 61.