By John Mesh
Two games. Two nail-biters.
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon women’s and men’s basketball team posted close victories over the Cowley College Tigers Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The No. 1-ranked Hutchinson women won a 62-60 thriller and the Blue Dragon men won 70-62.
It was the first competitive outing for the Blue Dragon basketball teams after a 21-day Christmas break.
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s team led 16-5 at the end of the first quarter. Cowley outscored HutchCC 20-14 in the second quarter to cut the Blue Dragons’ lead to 5 points (30-25) at halftime.
The Blue Dragons led by 6 points (48-42) at the end of the third quarter. Cowley took a 58-56 lead with 2:11 left in the game.
HutchCC’s Hailey Jackson hit two free throws to tie the score at 58-58 with 47 seconds left in the game. The Blue Dragons got the ball back with 25 seconds left.
Hutchinson’s Brynne Katcher made a layup off an assist from Landon Forbes to give the Blue Dragons a 60-58 lead with 4.9 seconds left.
Cowley’s Hattie Pyle made two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to tie the score at 60-60.
Hutchinson’s Jackson, who already won a game at the free throw this season and hit three shots to force overtime in the Blue Dragons’ national championship victory last April, was fouled by Pyle on the in-bounds play with 1 second left and hit two free throws to give the Blue Dragons a 62-60 lead.
Cowley’s in-bounds pass went to Alexcia Murphy, who hit a 3-pointer. However, officials ruled that the final buzzer went off before Murphy’s shot went in the basket.
Jackson posted her seventh “double-double” of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds. She made 10-of-11 free throws.
Dylan Alexander scored 10 points, Kahlen Norris 9, Katie Duncan 7, Landon Forbes 5, Brynne Katcher 5, Madi Dension 4, Jada Pleasant 2 and Jaden Wilson 2. Honey Cooney did not score but contributed 2 assists.
Forbes dished off 3 assists and grabbed 5 rebounds. Katcher grabbed 6 boards.
The Blue Dragons committed 19 turnovers.
Elysa Martinez led the Tigers with 16 points. Murphy had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jamie Molina added 11 points.
The No. 1-ranked HutchCC women’s basketball team improved to 14-0 overall and 8-0 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference.
The Cowley College Tiger women’s team dropped to 9-5 overall (4-5 KJCCC).
The Blue Dragon women now have won 51 consecutive games, including a 37-0 record during the 2023-24 NJCAA national championship season. John Ontjes now has a career record of 496-96 as HutchCC women’s coach.
The Blue Dragon women travel to El Dorado Wednesday to play at No. 5 Butler Community College. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m.
Hutchinson men 70, Cowley College 62
The Hutchinson Blue Dragon men’s basketball team held off No. 6 Cowley College for their ninth victory of the season and extended their winning streak to three.
“It was really good performance by us,” said Kyle Fisher (in his first season at Hutchinson CC men’s basketball coach) during his radio postgame interview.
“I thought we had a really good week of practice during Christmas break. We had more competitive practices (during the break). I thought we could finished the game better.”
The Blue Dragons led at halftime 34-20. The game was tied 18-18 with 7:33 left in the first half. That’s when the Blue Dragons went on a 16-2 run.
The Cowley Tigers cut the Blue Dragons’ lead to 62-59 with 2:41 left in the game.
Hutchinson finished off the Tigers with an 8-3 run.
The Blue Dragons improved to 9-5 overall (5-3 KJCCC). Cowley dropped to 13-2 overall (8-0 KJCCC). HutchCC snapped Cowley’s 10-game winning streak.
Jaquez Thornton led the Blue Dragons with 23 points, including 13-of-14 free throws, and added 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Bobby Cannon recorded a “double-double” with 15 points and 12 rebounds. DJ Dudley scored 7 points and Bo Aldridge 6 points with 6 boards.
Khalil Arnold, Mikhail Abdul-Hamid 5 and Kobe Smith 5. Isaiah Jackson scored 4 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Marcus Zeigler and Dallas Whitney each scored 11 points to lead the Tigers. Marcus Whitlock Jr. and Shamarrrie Hugie each scored 10.
Hutchinson won the game at the free throw line, making 27-of-38 foul shots compared to just 5-of-11 for the Tigers.
The Blue Dragon men travel to El Dorado Wednesday to play at No. 5 Butler Community College. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.
Hutchinson Central Christian boys fight off St. John
Hutchinson Central Christian’s Piercen Huff scored 24 points and converted a pair of fourth-quarter steals for a hard-fought 60-51 non-league basketball victory over St. John Friday at St. John.
St. John (4-3) was sparked by Emmett Delp with 22 points and Quade Smith added 10 points.
The Tigers closed within 47-46 on Brody Vieux’s 3-pointer and a pair of Delp free throws. Delp’s basket with 3:16 made it 50-48.
The Cougars closed out the victory with a 10-3 scoring run.
Hutchinson Central Christian girls fall to St. John 53-34
No. 5 ranked 1A St. John placed three players in double figures to defeat Hutchinson Central Christian 53-34 in Friday’s non-league basketball game.
The St. John Tigers led 31-12 at halftime.
St. John (6-1) placed Mia Meyer (15), Lydia Reed (13) and Gentri Bright (10) in double figures. Lily Brummer contributed 7 points.
Central Christian (4-3) was led by Belle Barnett with 13 points and Avery Kauffman with 9 points off three 3-pointers. Reese Swanson scored 8 points for the Cougars.
Friday area high school basketball scores
BOYS
Beloit 70, Lyons 58
Cheney 68, Nickerson 29
Cunningham 87, Canton-Galva 52
Haven 50, Norton 29
Hutchinson Central Christian 60, St. John 51
Little River 40, Norwich 34
GIRLS
Beloit 48, Lyons 16
Canton-Galva 40, Cunningham 29
Cheney 71, Nickerson 5
Haven 38, Norton 28
Little River 58, Kingman/Norwich 29
St. John 53, Hutchinson Central Christian 34
Area basketball schedule Jan. 7-11
Tuesday, Jan. 7
Hutchinson at Maize South
Salina Sacred Heart at Lyons
Inman at Ell-Saline
Hutchinson Trinity Catholic at Sterling
Haven at Nickerson
Halstead at Abilene
Towanda-Circle at Buhler
Herington at Little River
Burrton at Argonia
Cunningham at Macksville
Pretty Prairie at Udall
Minneapolis at Lyons
Wednesday, Jan. 8
Hutchinson CC at Butler
Friday, Jan. 10
Hutchinson at Salina South
Wichita Classical at Inman
Marion at Hutchinson Trinity Catholic
Haven at Pratt
Winfield at Buhler
Kingman at Nickerson
Sterling at Moundridge
Burrton at Cunningham
Caldwell at Pretty Prairie
Peabody-Burns at Little River (boys only)
Saturday, Jan. 11
Hutchinson CC at Pratt CC
St. John at Little River