Graphic courtesy of Blue Dragon Sports Information
By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams swept Butler Community College Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
DJ Dudley got a game-winning tip-in at the final buzzer to give the Hutchinson Blue Dragon men a 64-63 victory over the Butler Grizzlies and the 8th-ranked Hutchinson CC women defeated Butler CC 54-49.
The Blue Dragon teams hosted the 13th annual Pink-Out games at the Hutchinson Sports Arena Saturday.
Proceeds from the sale of Pink-Out T-shirts benefitted the Cancer Council of Reno County. Pink-Out ceremonies took place at halftime of the men’s game.
The Blue Dragon men’s basketball team, coached by former Butler coach Kyle Fisher, trailed the Butler Community College Grizzlies 35-24 at halftime. Butler is coached by former HutchCC men’s assistant coach Eric Nitsche.
Hutchinson cut Butler’s lead to 5 points at 57-52 with 6:33 left in the game and then to 2 points at 60-58 with 4:51 left.
Hutchinson’s Bobby Cannon tied the score at 60-all with 4:51 left.
The Blue Dragons took a 62-60 lead with 1:21 remaining in the contest, their first lead since 2 minutes into the first half.
Butler’s Russell Branch, a former Blue Dragon, tied the score at 62-62 with 1:08 left in the game.
Butler’s Emeka Opurum made 1-of-2 free throws with 15 seconds left to give the Grizzlies a 63-62 lead. Hutchinson called a timeout with 10.3 seconds left.
Bo Aldridge missed a layup and Dudley tipped in the miss for the Blue Dragon victory.
Aldridge led the Blue Dragons with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists. Cannon had 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Dudley had 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Khalil Arnold scored 10 points, Isaiah Jackson 4 and Kobe Smith 4. Smith had 3 assists.
Opurum led the Grizzlies with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Branch scored 12 points. Devin Kerr and Devonte Reed each scored 7 and Josiah Kirkwood 6.
Hutchinson made 19-of-21 free throw attempts and Butler made 11-of-20. Butler outrebounded HutchCC 41-37.
The Blue Dragon men’s team improved to 17-10 overall (13-8 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference). The Butler CC men dropped to 18-8 overall, 13-8 KJCCC).
The Blue Dragon men lead the series against Butler 131-70. HutchCC defeated Butler 73-70 at El Dorado on Jan. 8.
Hutchinson Blue Dragon women 54, Butler CC 49
The Hutchinson Blue Dragons led 21-14 after one quarter and 34-27 at halftime. After Hutchinson led by 12 points to start the third quarter, the Grizzlies cut the Blue Dragons’ lead to 41-40.
The Blue Dragons hit a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to push the lead back to 9 points at 49-40 at the end of the third quarter.
Hutchinson led 52-40 with 9:10 left in the game, but Butler went on a 9-0 run to cut the Blue Dragons’ lead to 52-49 with less than 4 minutes left in the game.
HutchCC’s Katie Duncan got a putback on her own miss to give Hutchinson a 54-49 lead at the 1:32 mark.
Hutchinson sophomore Hailey Jackson missed two free throws with 22 seconds left. She made just 1-of-5 free throws in the game. Blue Dragon Jada Pleasant missed two free throws with 15 seconds left.
Butler CC missed two 3-pointers in the final 15 seconds. The Grizzlies did not score in the final 3:44.
Hutchinson was outscored 9-5 in the fourth quarter and still won the game. Butler never led in the contest.
Jackson led the Blue Dragons in scoring with 13 points and added 12 rebounds. Jackson scored 12 points in the first quarter, 1 point in the second quarter and was held scoreless in the second half.
Jackson has scored 973 career points and is in ninth place on the HutchCC career points list.
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).
Kahlen Norris scored 12 points for the Blue Dragons, Duncan 10, Brynne Katcher 8, Pleasant 6, Landon Forbes 3 and Honey Cooney 2.
Katcher grabbed 7 rebounds, Forbes 4 and Madi Denison 4. Forbes had 6 assists and Pleasant 4. Forbes had 4 steals and Norris 3.
Keegan Yarick led Butler with 14 points. Lucia Lara had 12 points and 9 rebounds. Mya Mayberry had 7 points and 7 rebounds.
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon women improved to 23-3 overall and 17-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Butler CC women dropped to 20-5 overall (15-5 KJCCC).
John Ontjes, in his 18th season as Hutchinson women’s basketball coach, has a record of 507 wins, 99 losses (294-60 KJCCC).
The Hutchinson women have a 64-34 lead in the series against the Grizzlies (Ontjes is 26-9).
The Blue Dragon women are 13-0 at the Sports Arena this season.
The Blue Dragon teams are down to three games to play in the 2024-25 regular season.
The Hutchinson women and men will host Pratt Community College on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.).
The Blue Dragon squads will make a road trip to Seward County Saturday (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.) and will host Dodge City on March 5 (5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.).