By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Community College women and the Blue Dragon men both struggled on the road Wednesday night against Cowley College.
The 8th-ranked Hutchinson Blue Dragon women lost to Cowley College 70-60 and the Blue Dragon men lost to the 8th-ranked Cowley College men 87-71 at Scott Auditorium in Arkansas City.
The Blue Dragon women’s team led 11-10 after one quarter but the Tigers outscored HutchCC 28-14 in the second 10 minutes for a 38-25 halftime lead. Three Cowley players already hit double figures at halftime (Hattie Pyle 11 points, Jaiden Smith 10 and Alexcia Murphy 10).
Hutchinson cut Cowley’s lead to 4 points at 61-57 with 3:07 left in the game.
The HutchCC women’s team dropped to 23-3 overall (17-3, 2nd place in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. The Cowley College women improved to 17-9 overall (12-9, 6th place KJCCC).
Sophomore Hailey Jackson was the lone Blue Dragon in double figures with 18 points (16 in the second half) and added 9 rebounds.
Jackson moved into ninth place on the HutchCC All-Time Points list with 875 points. Jackson passed Kim Gwinner, who now is in 10th place with 958 points. She was a Blue Dragon from 1986-1988.
Next on the HutchCC list are Dejanae Roebuck (eighth place, 998 in 2017-2019); Janay Vulgamore (seventh place, 999 in 1988-1990); Tor’e Alford (sixth place, 1032 in 2017-2019); and Cian Carvahlo (fifth place, 1034 in 1998-2000).
The top scorers in Blue Dragon women’s history are Kalani Purcell (1176 in 2013-2015), Mya Williams (1163 in 2021-2023), Jamie Patrick (1098 in 2012-2014) and Heather Robben (1072 in 2008-2010).
Madi Denison scored 9 points, Kahlen Norris 8, Katie Duncan 8, Brynne Katcher 7, Landon Forbes 4, Honey Cooney 3, Jaden Wilson 2 and Jada Pleasant 1.
Katcher also grabbed 9 rebounds, Denison 5 and Norris 5. Forbes dished off 5 assists and Cooney 3. Norris had 2 steals.
Pyle led the Tigers with 20 points. Murphy scored 19, Elysa Martinez 18 and Smith 10. Murphy grabbed 14 rebounds, Pyle 9 and Martinez 5. Martinez had 4 assists and Smith 3. Smith had 3 steals, Destiny Yates 2 and Martinez 2.
Cowley made 23-of-27 free throws and Hutchinson made just 11-of-22.
Cowley College men 87, Hutchinson 71
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon men dropped to 16-10 overall (12-8, 5th place KJCCC).
The Cowley College men improved to 24-3 overall (19-2, 1st place KJCCC).
Cowley, which defeated the Blue Dragons 70-62 on Jan. 4 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, led at halftime 37-25.
Khalil Arnold led the Hutchinson Blue Dragons with 15 points. DJ Dudley scored 14 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished off 6 assists.
Mikhail Abdul-Hamid scored 11 points. Isaiah Jackson had 10 points and 4 blocked shots. Bobby Cannon had 8 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Bo Aldridge scored 5 points for the Blue Dragons, Juvon Gamory 3, Kobe Smith 3 and Amari Davis 3. Smith grabbed 4 rebounds.
Shamarrie Hugie led the Tigers with 22 points and pulled down 5 rebounds for Cowley College. Marcus Whitlock scored 17 points and grabbed 3 rebounds. Avante Nichols scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds
Cowley’s Emarquis Jones had 7 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 blocked shots. Marcus Zeigler had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists.
Former Hutchinson Blue Dragon Dallas Whitney scored 6 points for the Tigers as did Kyden Thompson. Winston Allen and CJ Majors each scored 2 points.
Cowley made 35-of-60 field goals (58.3%) while Hutchinson made 25-of-63 (39.7%).
The Hutchinson women’s and men’s teams host Butler Community College at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Saturday’s games against Butler CC are the annual “Pink Out Games” to raise donations for the Cancer Council of Reno County.
The Blue Dragon teams host Pratt Community College at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Blue Dragons play their final regular-season road games at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. against Seward County on March 1. HutchCC teams host their final regular-season home games at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on March 5.
Hutchinson-Salina South basketball games will be played Feb. 28
The Hutchinson High School girls and boys basketball games (originally scheduled for Jan. 10 and moved to Wednesday) at Salina South will be played Friday, Feb. 28.
Hazardous driving conditions brought on by snow Monday and Tuesday forced another schedule change for Hutchinson and Salina South.
The Hutchinson Salthawk teams host Newton on Friday. The girls game tips off at 6 p.m., followed by the boys game at 7:30 p.m.
The Hutchinson High School Salthawk Night of Champions festivities will take place Friday during halftime of the varsity boys basketball game against Newton.
Two state championship teams will be recognized — the 2004 Salthawk football team (the first of seven state football titles for Hutchinson) and the 2005 Salthawk boys golf team (coached by Charlie Pierce).
There will be a postgame gathering at AJ’s Sports Grill, 1223 East 23rd Street, Hutchinson.
King and Salthawk football coach Mike Vernon were honored before the start of the Salthawk boys basketball game against Campus.
King and Vernon were selected as a player and assistant coach for the West Team at the Kansas Shrine Bowl football game slated for June 21 in Dodge City.
King will play college football for the NJCAA Division I national champion Hutchinson Blue Dragons.
Hailey Jackson named KJCCC Player of the Week
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Coming off a week where she posted a career-scoring high and was the leading scorer in two Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball victories last week, Blue Dragon sophomore forward Hailey Jackson was named the Jayhawk Conference Division I Women’s Basketball Player of the Week on Tuesday.
The sophomore from Tulsa, Okla., earned her third conference weekly honor of the season after averaging 27 points per game and joined the Blue Dragon career Top 10 scorers in a pair of victories last week.
Jackson averaged 8.5 rebounds and 2 assists as No. 8 Hutchinson defeated Garden City and Cloud County.
Against Garden City, Jackson scored a career-high 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting with eight rebounds in a 66-53 road win at Garden City.
With that performance, Jackson moved into the Career Scoring Top 10.
Two days later, Jackson had 22 points and nine rebounds to lift the Dragons to a 71-66 home win over Cloud County and continues to lead the KJCCC in scoring at 18.6 points per game.
Mangelson named KJCCC Runner of the Week
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
After posting his second school record in the 20205 indoor season, Hutchinson Community College sophomore track and field distance runner Farrin Mangelson was named the Jayhawk Conference Runner of the Week on Tuesday.
The sophomore from San Antonio, Texas, broke the school record in the men’s 3,000 meters on Saturday at the Ichabod Invitational in Topeka with a time of 8:19.75. He finished third in the event.
Mangelson currently has the best time in the event in Region 6.
Mangelson is also a two-event qualifier for nationals, in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters. The 3,000 school record is the second Blue Dragon record Mangelson has broken this season, also breaking the 5,000 record.
Mangelson is the second Blue Dragon men’s runner to earn weekly conference honors. Three weeks ago, sophomore David Thid was named conference player of the week.
Members of the Blue Dragon men’s and women’s track teams will compete in the Region 6 Indoor Championships this weekend in Pittsburg.