Graphic courtesy of Blue Dragon Sports Information
By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s basketball team fought off No. 22 seed South Georgia Technical College 61-58 in the first round of the NJCAA Division I women’s tournament.
Hutchinson (29-4) will advance to play No. 6 seed Three Rivers College, Poplar Bluff, Mo., in the second round at 5:45 p.m. Central time on Friday.
“I feel good about this one for sure,” said Hutchinson women’s basketball coach John Ontjes during his postgame radio interview. His career record in 18 seasons as HutchCC women’s coach is 512-100.
““We followed the game plan to a “T.” I was proud of our team. We lived to play another day. There’s no way they’re (South Georgia) a No. 22 seed.”
South Georgia Tech, from Americus, Ga., bolted out to leads of 10-2 and 15-7. The Jets led 17-13 after one quarter.
The Blue Dragons took their first lead of the game at 20-19 with 5:33 left in the second quarter.
Jada Pleasant and Kahlen Norris hit baskets to give Hutchinson a 24-21 lead with 2:31 left the first half. The Jets took the halftime lead at 29-24 on two 3-pointers and a 2-point jump shot.
Hailey Jackson, the KJCCC Player of the Year and Hutchinson’s leading scorer at 18 points per game, scored her first points of the contest on a layup with 5 minutes left in the third quarter.
Jackson’s bucket tied the score at 34-34. The score was tied 41-41 at the end of the third quarter.
Landon Forbes and Jackson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Hutchinson a 51-42 lead with 7:04 left in the game.
Hutchinson won despite not scoring for 3 minutes, 14 seconds. Brynne Katcher broke the scoring drought with two free throws at the 1:24 mark to put Hutchinson ahead 59-50.
The Jets cut the Blue Dragons’ lead to 59-53 with 41 seconds left.
Forbes knocked down free throws with 12 seconds left to make the score 61-53. South Georgia Tech’s Mio Sakano made a layup (5 seconds left) and a 3-pointer (3 seconds left) to make the final score 61-58.
Jackson led the Blue Dragons with 17 points. She scored 6 points in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth quarter. Jackson made 6-of-8 free throws, pulled down 12 rebounds and added 3 steals.
Jackson now has scored 1,080 career points. She moved into fourth place on the HutchCC all-time scoring list ahead of Heather Robben (1,072 points in 2008-2010).
The top scorers in Blue Dragon women’s history are Kalani Purcell (1,176 in 2013-2015), Mya Williams (1,163 in 2021-2023) and Jamie Patrick (1,098 in 2012-2014).
With 17 points and 12 rebounds, Jackson recorded her 13th “double-double” of the season and 16th of her career.
Pleasant scored 10 points, Norris 9, Katie Duncan 8, Forbes 8, Katcher 7 and Madi Denison 2. Katcher had 6 rebounds
Jamiah Gregory led the Jets with 16 points. Stephie Salumu added 15, Enola Papin 13 and Sakano 10.
The Blue Dragons, the defending NJCAA Division I women’s tournament champions, are making their 13th all-time appearance in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament. HutchCC has a 25-12 record in NJCAA Tournament play.
South Georgia Tech, which finished the season with a 25-7 record, entered the tournament on a 13-game winning streak after cruising through the Region 17 Tournament semifinals and championship game.
The Dodge City Community College women’s basketball team (29-4) drew the No. 4 seed at the NJCAA Division I basketball tournament.
The Conqs will play a second-round game at 3:30 p.m. Central time Thursday against the winner of No. 13-seed Arizona Western and No. 20-seed State Fair, Sedalia, Mo.
The Conquistadors received a first-round bye at the NJCAA DI National Tournament.
This is the final season for the NJCAA Tournament at the Ford Wyoming Center (formerly the Casper Events Center).
The 2026 NJCAA Division I women’s tournament will be played at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La.