By John Mesh
The No. 2-seeded Hutchinson Community College women, the defending NJCAA Division I champions, overcame a poor shooting performance and defeated No. 10-seeded Colby CC 59-49 Tuesday in a Region 6 quarterfinal game at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The season came to an end for the No. 4-seeded Hutchinson CC men’s basketball team with a 74-73 loss to No. 5-seeded Butler CC in a Region 6 quarterfinal game Tuesday night at the Sports Arena.
The Hutchinson women (28-3) advanced to the Region 6 semifinals for the 22nd time in school history and will play Coffeyville in the 5:30 p.m. game Friday at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum.
The Blue Dragon women trailed the Trojans 9-6 at the end of the first quarter. Colby led 23-20 at halftime.
The Blue Dragons led 37-36 at the end of the third quarter. Katie Duncan made a last-second jump shot to end the frame on an assist from Hailey Jackson.
Hutchinson went on a 22-5 run in the fourth quarter to lead 59-41. The Trojans scored final 8 points of the game for the final 59-49 margin.
Hutchinson made just 8-of-36 field goal attempts in the first half (1-of-17 from 3-point range). The Blue Dragons made 22-of-68 field goal for the game (32.4%), including 4-of-30 from 3-point range (13.3%). Colby committed 23 turnovers.
Jackson, who was the KJCCC’s final Women’s Player of the Week honoree (she has won the award five times this season), led the Blue Dragons with 17 points.
Duncan and Jada Pleasant each scored 11 points. Madi Denison and Brynne Katcher each scored 6 points, Landon Forbes 5 and Kahlen Norris 5.
Jackson had 8 rebounds and Katcher 5. Forbes had 5 assists and Duncan 4.
Shante Suttington led Colby with 21 points. Easha Potts added 11 points. Potts had 7 rebounds and Suttington 6. Jera Kruleski scored 6 points. Dessinae Ulmer had 4 points and 9 rebounds.
The Hutchinson women blew out Colby twice during the regular season (75-37 on Nov. 26 and 84-57 on Jan. 29).
Colby finished the season with a 16-16 record.
The Blue Dragon women will play in the Region 6 semifinals at 3 p.m. against Coffeyville. The Red Ravens defeated Seward County 61-50 in the quarterfinals.
Region VI Women’s First Round (Saturday, March 8)
No. 5 Cowley 99, No. 12 Independence 58
No. 8 Barton 66, No. 9 Garden City 58
No. 10 Colby 56, No. 7 Cloud County 55
No. 6 Seward County 81, No. 11 Pratt 49
Region VI Women’s Second Round (Tuesday, March 11)
Games played at higher seeds
No. 1 Dodge City vs. No. 8 Barton
No. 2 Hutchinson 59, No. 10 Colby 49
No. 3 Coffeyville 61, No. 6 Seward County 50
No. 4 Butler 88, No. 5 Cowley 78
Region VI Women’s Semifinals (Friday, March 14)
At Fort Hays State University Gross Memorial Stadium
No. 1 Dodge City vs. No. 4 Butler, 1 p.m.
No. 2 Hutchinson vs. No. 3 Coffeyville, 5:30 p.m.
Region VI Women’s Championship (Saturday, March 15)
At Fort Hays State University Gross Memorial Stadium, 3 p.m.
No. 5 Butler CC men 74, No. 4 Hutchinson 73
The Blue Dragon men, guided by first-year coach Kyle Fisher (the former Butler coach) finished the season with a 19-12 record.
Hutchinson trailed at halftime 35-30. Bo Aldridge scored 16 of the Blue Dragons’ 35 points at the break.
Hutchinson trailed 60-48, but cut the Grizzlies’ lead to 62-58 with 5:33 left in the game.
Hutchinson’s DJ Dudley was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and cashed in all three free throws to cut Butler’s lead to 71-70. Butler’s Russell Branch, who played at HutchCC last year, made the second of two foul shots to make the score 72-70 in favor of Butler.
Dudley had a clear layup path with 4 seconds left but committed a turnover. Branch made two free throws with 3 seconds left for a 4-point lead at 74-70,
Aldridge made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 74-73.
“You knew it would happen like that (decided in the final seconds),” said Hutchinson CC men’s basketball coach Kyle Fisher on his postgame radio interview. “That’s what happens in March. I thought out late-game execution was good. It was a good effort by our guys.
“This team had a lot of ups and downs. We know what to expect for the future of Blue Dragon basketball.”
Aldridge led the Blue Dragons with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Dudley scored 18 points, including 8-of-9 free throws. Kahlil Arnold scored 12 points and 5 assists.
Bobby Cannon scored 9 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Kobe Smith added 8 points and 5 rebounds. Isaiah Jackson scored 2 points and Amari Davis 1.
Fisher will have to replace sophomores Jaquez Thornton, Mikhail Abdul-Hamid, Dudley, Aldridge, Arnold, Jackson and Smith.
Josiah Kirkwood led the Grizzlies with 17 points. Devin Kerr added 15 and Branch 14. Devonte Reed scored 8 points. Emeka Opurum scored 7 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.
Butler CC, which will advance to the Region 6 semifinals for the fourth straight year, will play Cowley College in the semis at 3 p.m. Friday at Fort Hays State University’s Gross Memorial Coliseum.
No. 1-seed Cowley defeated No. 9 Dodge City 87-74 in a quarterfinal game.
The Blue Dragons went 2-0 against the Grizzlies during the regular season. HutchCC defeated Butler 73-70 on Jan. 8 and 64-63 on Feb. 22.
Region VI Men’s First Round (Saturday, March 8)
No. 11 Cloud County 85, No. 6 Colby 83
No. 5 Butler 95, No. 12 Pratt 78
No. 7 Garden City 88, No. 10 Independence 86 (OT)
No. 9 Dodge City 96, No. 8 Fort Hays Tech NW 82
Region VI Men’s Second Round (Tuesday, March 11)
Games played at higher seeds
No. 1 Cowley 87, No. 9 Dodge City 74
No. 2 Coffeyville 80, No. 7 Garden City 67
No. 3 Barton 100, No. 11 Cloud County 87
No. 5 Butler 74, No. 4 Hutchinson 73
Region VI Men’s Semifinals (Friday, March 14)
At Fort Hays State University Gross Memorial Stadium
No. 1 Cowley vs. No. 5 Butler, 3 p.m.
No. 2 Coffeyville vs. No. 3 Barton, 7:30 p.m.
Region VI Men’s Championship (Saturday, March 15)
At Fort Hays State University Gross Memorial Stadium, 5 p.m.
No. 20 Blue Dragon baseball team’s rally falls short against No. 9 Cowley
The No. 20 Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon baseball team’s late-game rally fell short to No. 9 Cowley College Tuesday at Hobart-Detter Field in Hutchinson’s Carey Park.
The Tigers (13-3) defeated the Blue Dragons 6-4.
Both teams collected right hits. Hutchinson’s Elias Duncan homered and doubled. A.J. Mustow doubled twice and homered. Cade Baldridge and Dawson Williams homered for the Tigers. Williams drove in three runs.
Hutchinson and Cowley each used six pitchers.
Hutchinson (16-4 overall, 3-1 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference, 11-2 at home) is back in league action in a doubleheader against Barton Community College on Thursday at Hobart-Detter Field. The doubleheader starts at 1 p.m.
The Blue Dragons play the Barton CC Cougars in a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday at Lawson-Biggs Field in Great Bend.
Hailey Jackson earns 5th Player of the Week honor
Hutchinson Community College sophomore Hailey Jackson was named Women’s Player of the Week in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference for the fifth time this season.
It was the final week for the Player of the Week honors.
Jackson helped Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons overcome a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime and eventually win a share of the KJCCC crown.
It is the final KJCCC D1 Women’s Basketball Player of the Week honor of the 2024-25 season.
Jackson’s 12th double-double of the year helped the No. 9- ranked Hutchinson team in a 75-67 overtime win over No. 7 Dodge City last Wednesday.
Jackson had 24 points and 10 rebounds in addition to hitting three crucial three-point goals as the Blue Dragons rallied from 10 points down after three quarters.
Jackson finished the regular season leading the KJCCC in scoring at 18.7 points per game.
Kaleb Hammeke, Lukas Hammeke lead Fort Hays State squad into NCAA II Tournament
The Fort Hays State University men’s basketball team led by Hutchinson Trinity Catholic High School alums Kaleb and Lucas Hammeke, claimed the MIAA Tournament Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 72-71 win over Central Oklahoma.
FHSU is now 2-0 in MIAA Tournament title games, also winning back in 2011.
Kaleb Hammeke led the Tigers with 22 points and had 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal against Central Oklahoma. He sank two free throws with 27 seconds for the game-winning points.
Lucas Hammeke contributed 6 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.
Kaleb Hammeke, a 2019 Trinity Catholic graduate, became FHSU’s all-time leading scorer earlier this season. The 6-foot guard has totaled 2,048 points and 575 rebounds in 142 career games, all of which he started.
Lucas Hammeke, a 2021 Trinity Catholic graduate, has appeared in 57 career games, averaging 2.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
Lucas Hammeke is the all-time leading scorer in Trinity history with 1,419 points (according to a March 19, 2021, Hutchinson News article written by Billy Watson).
Tim O’Brien, who starred at Trinity from 1975-78, is second with 1.379 points.
Kaleb Hammeke scored 1,371 points in his high school career, third most in Trinity history.
The Fort Hays State Tigers are now 22-9 overall and will be the No. 7 seed in the Central Regional hosted by Washburn University, March 15-18.
The Tigers will face MSU Moorhead in the opening round of the national tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
It will be the 15th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the FHSU men and ninth under head coach Mark Johnson.
The Fort Hays State University women’s basketball team, now 27-4 overall for the season, will be the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division II Central Regional hosted by Pittsburg State, March 14-17.
The Tiger women’s team fell to Pittsburg State 81-73 in the MIAA Tournament title game on Sunday.
Pittsburg State features Karenna Gerber, a 6-foot senior from Halstead; and Grace Pyle, a 5-11 senior from McPherson.
The Tigers will face Southern Nazarene in the opening round of the national tournament at noon Friday.
It will be the FHSU women’s ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament during the past 11 years and 10th overall.
Two former Blue Dragons help Omaha make ‘Big Dance’
Former Hutchinson Blue Dragon men’s basketball players Kamryn Thomas and Valentino Simon are members of the Unversity of Omaha squad that earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The University of Omaha (formerly known the University of Nebraska-Omaha) defeated St. Thomas (Minn,) 85-75 won the Summit League tournament championship game on Sunday.
The Mavericks earned the school’s first NCAA Men’s Tournament berth with a 22-12 record (a school record for victories).
Thomas averages 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds a game for the Mavericks. In one season at HutchCC, Thomas avenged 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game.
Simon, who averaged 13.4 points an 8.3 rebounds a game for the Blue Dragons in 2023-24, has not played much for the Mavericks this season.
The Mavericks will be joined at the NCAA Tournament Big Dance by Ohio Valley Conference champion Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE).
The SIUE Cougars feature former Barton Community College Cougars Myles Thompson and Rig Malith, who helped Barton win the NJCAA men’s title last year. Thompson is a Hutchinson High School alumnus.
Other schools that have earned automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament so far are Lipscomb, ASUN; High Point, Big South; Drake, Missouri Valley; Wofford, Southern; and Troy, Sun Belt.