By John Mesh
The Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference on Wednesday announced the 2024-2025 KJCCC Division I Women’s and Men’s Basketball All-KJCCC teams and winners of the major postseason honors.
The awards, which were voted on by each of the league head coaches, include 10 individuals.
Major award winners from the 2024-25 regular season for the women are Most Valuable Player Hailey Jackson (Hutchinson), Freshman of the Year Ashley Singhateh (Butler), Newcomer of the Year Elysa Martinez (Cowley College), Co-Defensive Players of the Year Ari Gordon (Seward County) and Shorna Preston (Dodge City) and Coach of the Year Landon Steele (Dodge City).
Jackson is a career 1,000-point scorer for the Blue Dragons and is a four-time Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division I Women’s Basketball Player of the Week.
Jackson led the KJCCC this season in scoring by averaging 18.3 points per contest to go along with 8.4 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per contest.
Helping Hutchinson to a co-KJCCC regular season championship and a 21-3 mark in the KJCCC regular season, Jackson had 30 games in double figures this season.
Jackson recorded four 30-point outings, including a season-high 33 in a 58-50 win at Seward County on March 1.
Hutchinson sophomore point guard Landon Forbes earned KJCCC first-team honors.
Forbes averaged 9.1 points a game, led the conference in assists (4.1) and was fifth in steals (2.8).
Hutchinson Community College freshman Bo Aldridge was named to the all-KJCCC Men’s First Team.
Aldridge averaged 14.6 points per game and led the Hutchinson Blue Dragons in scoring. He was seventh in the league in free throw percentage at 82% and recorded two double-doubles.
Hutchinson’s DJ Dudley was named to all-KJCCC second-team selection. Dudley hit four game-tying over go-ahead buckets this season and was fifth in the league in assists with 120.
Bobby Cannon was an all-KJCCC honorable mention selection. He led the Blue Dragons in rebounding with 6.6 boards a game and was second in the conference in blocked shots with 73.
Major KJCCC men’s award winners from the 2024-25 regular season are Most Valuable Player and Newcomer of the Year Marcus Whitlock Jr. (Cowley), Freshman of the Year Eternity Eguagie (Colby), Defensive Player of the Year Emeka Opurum (Butler) and Coach of the Year Donnie Jackson (Cowley).
Ad Astra Radio Athlete of the Week: Halstead’s Addisen Wills
Ad Astra Radio’s Athlete of the Week this week is Halstead High School junior Addisen Wills.
Wills had a strong week at the Hutchinson Sports Arena, where she helped the Dragons win their first state championship in team history.
In three wins, she averaged 12.7 points, 4.3 assists and 4.3 steals a game. Her 13 total steals were the most in the tournament.
In the state championship game, a 48-45 win over reigning champion Silver Lake, Wills had 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.
Wills had an outstanding season for the talented and balanced Dragons, a team that had nobody with a scoring average in double digits.
Prior to state, Wills averaged 7.3 points, 4 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 3 assists per game.
Sweet to Elite: Ichabods win NCAA II Central Regional title
By Washburn University Sports Information
For the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2001, the No. 5-ranked Washburn Ichabods are off to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight after a 93-65 win over No. 17-ranked MSU Moorhead in a sold out Lee Arena in Topeka on Tuesday night.
The Ichabods are coach by Hutchinson High School alumnus and University of Kansas alumnus/former assistant coach Brett Ballard.
Washburn will now face Lenoir-Rhyne, the winners of the Southeast Region at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Evansville, Ind., in the NCAA National Quarterfinals.
The Ichabods and the Dragons started out on a helter-skelter pace as the first media timeout of the game was not taken until the 12:51 mark as the Ichabods started 10 of 12 from the field including a perfect 5 of 5 from deep while the Dragons were 5 of 8 overall as Washburn (29-3) built a 25-15 lead.
Washburn continued to build its lead, but the Dragons (25-9) cut down the margin to five with 2:37 left before the Ichabods took a 47-41 lead into the break.
Through the first 10 minutes of the second half, Washburn outscored the Dragons 28-8 continuing to light the nets hitting 10 of 17 shots while holding MSU Moorhead to 3 of 12 shooting pushing out to a 75-49 lead.
Another 9-2 run by the Ichabods stretched the lead to 21 en route to a game high 32 points with 1:56 to play at 93-61.
Washburn closed out the home slate with a perfect 16-0 mark at home in what will be the final game in Lee Arena as it looks now as a major renovation is set to take place at the conclusion of the season.
The Ichabods were led by Brayden Shorter who scored a game-high 21 points hitting 5 of 9 3-pointers adding a team-high 9 rebounds. Jacob Hanna scored 19 with 9 rebounds.
Andrew Orr finished with 17 points on 8 of 9 shooting from the field. Jack Bachelor recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists.
Carson Johnson led the MSU Moorhead Dragons with 17 points.
Following the game, Orr and Bachelor were named to the all-tournament team along with Hanna, who was named most outstanding player of the regional.
Vignery resigns as Butler Community College football coach
By Butler CC Sports Information
Butler Community College head football coach Brice Vignery has resigned and has accepted another opportunity in college football.
Defensive coordinator Kyle Woodall will serve as the Grizzlies interim head coach until the search to replace Vignery is completed.
“I would like to thank Brice for his dedication to Butler football as head coach over the last three seasons,” said Butler Director of Athletics Todd Carter in a release on Butler CC social media.
“Brice is a Grizzly through and through having spent 17 years of his life involved with this program, and I want to thank him for all the hard work put in. We wish him the best in his future endeavors and look forward to finding the next leader to carry on the Butler football tradition.”
Vignery was named head coach at Butler in December of 2021, and spent a total of three seasons as head coach.
He compiled a 20-13 record, winning the Heart of Texas Bowl in 2022 and helped lead the Grizzlies to the program’s 26th conference championship in 2024 as Butler finished 5-1 in league play.
Vignery helped mentor seven NJCAA All-Americans as head coach and more than 60 All-Jayhawk Conference selections.
“Coaching at Butler has been the honor of my career,” said Vignery. “The people in this community have been so good to myself and my family. I cannot thank everyone enough for everything that they’ve given not only to me but to this program and to this great school. I couldn’t have asked for better coaches, support staff and community members that helped us accomplish what we accomplished in my time here over the past 17 years.
“This community has made my journey worthwhile and helped shape me into the person that I am today. I’m very fortunate and honored to have been a part of so many great memories. The dedication of so many has been what has kept my family and I here for so long. As we move onto the next chapter, I want everyone to know how much I appreciate them and how much they mean to us. While it is goodbye for now, you don’t ever really leave Butler.”
In total, Vignery spent 17 years and 16 football seasons at Butler as a player and coach. Vignery, a Concordia native, began his career at Butler as a wide receiver from 2006-07.
The Grizzlies went 23-1 with two conference titles and two Region VI titles, as well as winning the 2007 national championship with Vignery on the roster.
Butler defeated Hutchinson Community College 27-22 on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Gowans Stadium. It was the Blue Dragons’ only loss of the season.
The 101-game series between Hutchinson and Butler is tied 50-50-1.
Hutchinson (11-1) won the NJCAA Division I championship with a 28-23 victory over Iowa Western on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024.