By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon men’s basketball teams swept Pratt Community College teams Wednesday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The HutchCC men won 65-59 and the Hutchinson women won 85-44.
The Blue Dragon men improved to 18-10 overall (14-8 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference). The Pratt Beavers dropped to 11-17 overall (7-15 KJCCC).
The HutchCC men played without the services of 6-foot-4 sophomore point guard DJ Dudley, who got a game-winning tip-in Saturday’s win over Butler Community College. Dudley sat out the game because of a shoulder injury.
The Blue Dragons led 27-26 at halftime.
Bo Aldridge led the Blue Dragons with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He made 9-of-11 free throws.
Khalil Arnold added 12 points and 7 rebounds. Juvon Gamory scored a season-high 9 points and pulled down 5 rebounds.
Kobe Smith scored 6 points, Mikhail Abdul-Hamid 5 and Amari Davis 4 (with 3 boards).
Isaiah Jackson scored just 3 points but grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. Bobby Cannon had 2 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
Ajiet Akot led Pratt with 21 points and 15 rebounds. Parker Whisenhunt had 10 points and 7 rebounds. Jarrett Dingle had 8 points and 5 rebounds. Galvin Luketa scored 7 points. Joseph Opareke had 6 points and 12 rebounds.
The Hutchinson men’s team won the first meeting of the season over Pratt, defeating the Beavers 87-77 on Jan. 11 in Pratt.
No. 11 Hutchinson women 85, Pratt 44
The 11th-ranked Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s basketball team improved to 25-3 overall (19-3 KJCCC, 14-0 at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, 31 straight home wins dating back to the 2023-24 season).
The Blue Dragons led 21-14 at the end of the first quarter and 44-23 at halftime. Hutchinson made 7-of-13 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes (54%). The Blue Dragons made 10-of-27 3-pointers in the game (37%)
The Blue Dragons outscored Pratt 24-10 in the third quarter and 17-11 in the fourth quarter.
All 11 Blue Dragons that suited up scored in the game.
Landon Forbes led the Blue Dragons with 18 points and added 9 steals, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Hailey Jackson had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Katie Duncan had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
Kahlen Norris added 8 points, Honey Cooney 7, Madi Denison 6, Jada Pleasant 6, Brynne Katcher 6, Jaden Wilson 4, Zhane Signet 3 and Carly Dameron 3.
La’Kyra Johnson led Pratt CC with 15 points, including 10-of-10 free throws. Analia and Sofia Bermejo each scored 8 points.
The Hutchinson women defeated Pratt 92-47 in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 11 in Pratt.
Jackson now has scored 989 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).
John Ontjes, in his 18th season as Hutchinson women’s basketball coach, has a record of 508 wins, 99 losses (295-59 KJCCC, 284-31 in the Sports Arena, 34-3 against Pratt).
The Pratt Beavers fell to 8-20 overall (3-19 KJCCC).
Hutchinson has a series record of 90-11 against the Prett women, including 21 straight victories.
Remaining HutchCC basketball regular-season schedule
The Blue Dragon men’s and women’s basketball teams are down to two games to play in the 2024-25 regular season.
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 next Wednesday (5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.).
HutchCC softball team sweeps Pratt CC
The Hutchinson Community College softball team swept a doubleheader from Pratt Community College Wednesday afternoon at Fun Valley.
The Blue Dragons won the first game 13-5 (5 innings, run rule) and 21-3 (5 innings, run rule). HutchCC improved to 6-4.
In the first game, Hutchinson put the game away with a five-run bottom of the fifth inning.
Kaibryn Kruger belted a two-run homer, Brooke Backhaus had an RBI double and an RBI single, Brie Brawner (sophomore from Haven) had an RBI double and a sacrifice fly and Gabby Stauffer had a two-run double.
In the second game, Hutchinson led 8-1 after one inning. After Pratt hit a two-run homer, Hutchinson scored seven runs in the third inning to take a 15-3 lead.
The Blue Dragons added six more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning,
Emily Dice had two two-run singles for HutchCC. Kaibryn Kruger belted a two-run homer and an RB double for the Blue Dragons.
Bailey Backhaus hit a two-run double and a two-run single. Haley Kruger had an RBI double. Aubree Thomas and Stauffer each had two-run singles. Brawner added an RBI single.
Hutchinson plays a 2 p.m. doubleheader Saturday against Fort Hays Tech Northwest at Tiger Softball Complex in Goodland.
The Blue Dragons play a 1 p.m. doubleheader next Wednesday against Butler Community College at East Park in El Dorado.