Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball coach John Ontjes and the Blue Dragons lost a second-round matchup 50-48 to Three Rivers Community College Friday night in the NJCAA Women’s Division I Tournament the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyo. (Photo courtesy of HutchCC Sports Information).
By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragon women’s hopes of repeating as NJCAA Division I champions ended with a 50-48 loss to Three Rivers, Mo., in the second round of the 2025 NJCAA DI Tournament at the Ford Wyoming Center Friday night in Casper, Wyo.
The No. 11-seeded Blue Dragons, who finished the season with a 29-5 record, led 14-9 after one quarter, 26-24 at halftime and 38-26 after three quarters. The Raiders outscored the Blue Dragons 14-10 in the fourth quarter for the 2-point win.
In other second-round games Friday, No. 8-seeded Shelton State CC defeated No. 9 South Plains College 69-59, No. 10 Eastern Arizona College defeated No. 7 McLennan CC 53-46 and No. 5 New Mexico JC defeated No. 12 Florida Southwestern State College 45-43.
Hailey Jackson led the Blue Dragons with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists. It was her 14th “double-double” of the season and 17th of her career.
Jackson finished her Blue Dragon career with 1,100 career points in 71 career games. She is in third place on the HutchCC all-time scoring list. She passed fourth-place Jamie Patrick, who scored 1,098 points from 2012-2014.
The top two scorers in Blue Dragon women’s history are Kalani Purcell (1,176 in 2013-2015) and Mya Williams (1,163 in 2021-2023).
Jada Pleasant scored 8 points for Hutchinson, followed by Landon Forbes with 6, Brynne Katcher 6, Kahlen Norris 4, Madi Denison 2 and Katie Duncan 2. Jaden Wilson played but did not score. Norris had 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Duncan had 4 rebounds.
Kaleigh Thompson led Three Rivers with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Alexia Weaver scored 11 points. Yannie Flemings had 8 points and 6 rebounds.
Hutchinson, which won the 2024 NJCAA national championship on the Ford Wyoming Center floor 361 days ago on April 2, 2024, has a two-year record of 66-5, including a 50-game winning streak.
John Ontjes’ career record in 18 seasons as HutchCC women’s coach is 512-101.
Seven sophomores played their final game in a Blue Dragon uniform. They are Kahlen Norris, Hailey Jackson, Landon Forbes, Madi Denison, Jada Pleasant, Brynne Katcher and Zhane Singer.
No. 6-seeded Three Rivers CC, from Poplar Bluff, Mo., reached the quarterfinals (Elite Eight) with a 29-3 record.
The Raiders will play the Raiders of Northwest Florida State (30-3) at 5:45 Central time/4:45 p.m. Mountain time in the Elite Eight on Saturday.
Other Elite Eight matchups Saturday: No. 1 Chipola College (31-3) vs. No. 8 Shelton State CC (29-4), 11 a.m. Central/10 a.m. Mountain; No. 2 Wabash Valley College (31-2) vs. No. 10 Eastern Arizona College (27-6), 1:15 p.m. Central/12:15 p.m. Mountain; No. 4 Dodge City CC (30-4) vs. No. 5 New Mexico JC (30-3), 3:30 p.m. Central/2:30 p.m. Mountain.
Connors State to plays Trinity Valley to play for NJCAA DI men’s crown
The magic run for the No. 17-seeded Connors State College Cowboys, from Warner, Okla., continues at the NJCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament.
Connors State (32-3) knocked off No. 4-seeded South Plains College 80-74 in the first Friday night semifinal on Sam Butterfield Court at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
In the second semifinal game Friday night, No. 7 Trinity Valley Community College (33-3) defeated No. 6 Panola College 51-47.
The NJCAA Men’s Division I championship game between Connors State and Trinity Valley will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday and will be televised on ESPNU.
Connors State led at halftime 40-28 and built a 15-point lead in the first 10 minutes of the second half. However, South Plains cut the deficit to 66-60 with 5:49 left in the game.
DJ Dormu led the Connors State Cowboys with 28 points, including 11-of-13 free throws. Former Hutchinson Blue Dragon Edwin Daniel had his third “double-double” of the tournament with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Kevin Stubblefield Jr. also had 13 points.
Jermiah Johnson and Ethan Dietz each scored 9 points for the Cowboys. Aric Walls scored 7 and Jaylen Lee 2.
Jalen Ricks led the South Plains Texans with 19 points. Isaac Taveras scored 16, Artery Morris 13 and IJ Ezuma 13. Taveras grabbed 14 rebounds and Ezuma 10.
Trinity Valley led at halftime 32-22. The Ponies outscored the Cardinals 25-19 in the second half.
Zati Loubaki led the Trinity Valley Cardinals with 17 points. Garrett Nuckolls had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tyler Smith contributed 8 points and 7 assists.
Khoi Thurman led the Panola Ponies with 19 points. CJ Worsham scored 8 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.
Panola College finished the season 29-6.
Hutchinson baseball, softball teams swept at Great Bend
The Hutchinson High School baseball and softball teams were swept in four games by Great Bend Friday night at Great Bend.
The Salthawk baseball team lost the first game 15-1 and the second game 13-6.
The Salthawk softball team lost the first game 7-6 and the nightcap 12-0.
Buhler girls swimmers and divers compete at Salina meet
The Buhler High School girls swim team (including two divers) helped the Crusaders place first at the Salina South Invitational Thursday at the Salina South Natatorium.
The meet was split into two divisions and scored as two different meets.
Buhler won the Salina South team title with 413 points, followed by Hays High with 323, Salina South 309, Great Bend 272, Hutchinson 268 and Salina Central 175.
Salina South won the Salina Central team title with 578 points, followed by Buhler with 441, Hays High 384, Hutchinson 299, Great Bend 291 and Salina Central 207.
“It took every single race and every single place the girls earned to win this meet as a team,” said Buhler girls swim coach Shane DeWeese on the team’s Facebook page. “What a way to start the year.
“The first meet of the year for the Buhler girls swim and dive team is in the books, and it is a first-place finish as a team, the second team win in team history. Talk about coming out swinging, err, swimming.”
“In the 50 freestyle, there were many swimmers, several of whom were participating in their first individual race. It was amazing to see the smiles of victory from the girls who were nervous or scared when they finished their race. Smiles all around.
“For the first time in several years, BHS girls have divers and they represented well at this six-dive meet. Ellie Goering took second, Ellie Keeton took third and Evey Brooks took fourth.”
Buhler’s Hannah Swain won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6 minutes, 5.03 seconds. Swain set a new BHS school record and earned a state consideration time.
The Buhler High School girls swimmers and divers will compete on Tuesday in their home pool at the Hutchinson YMCA. The meet will be hosted by Hutchinson High School.
“Come support the team, cheering them on in Hutch,” DeWeese said.
Buhler results Salina South Invitational
200 medley relay: 4. Buhler A (Avery Schrader, Hannah Swain, Aivlynn Ehmke, Grace Schmidt) 2:18.45, 6. Buhler B (Regan Wlle, Evey Brooks, Addy Tech, Ellie Goering) 2:30.76, 10. Buhler C (Ava Schmidt, Cassidy Banning, Ellie Keeton, Cathlyna Theriot) 3:11.44.
200 free: 3.Reyne Kaufman 2:29.7, 5.Addy Tech 2:41.5, 6.Harper Kendrick 2:47.4.
200 IM: 5.Avery Schrader 3:01.13, 8.Cathlyna Theriot 3:26.91, 10.Brayla Johnson 3:35.75.
50 free: 5. Grace Schmidt 30.59, 8.Regan Walle 32.61, 17.Cassidy Banning 42.85. Ava Schmidt, Payton Ball, Cora Nuttmann and Payton Thompson also competed in this event, all their first individual event ever as swimmers.
Diving: 2. Ellie Goering 127.25 points, 3.Ellie Keeton 108.55, 4.Evey Brooks 107.75.
100 fly: 3.Hannah Swain 1:22.22, 6.Ellie Goering 1:36.09, 10.Brayla Johnson.
100 free: 2.Aivylnn Ehmke 1:01.47, 7.Grace Schmidt 1:08.92, 8.Harper Kendrick 1:13.86. Ellie Keeton, Payton Ball, Cora Nuttmann, Ava Schmidt and Payton Thompson also competed in this event.
500 free: 1.Hannah Swain 6:05.03, 5.Reyne Kaufman 6:57.19, 8.Cathlyna Theriot 8:10.74.
200 free relay: 4.Buhler A (Addy Tech, Regan Walle, Harper Kendrick, Reyne Kaufman), 7.Buhler B (Evey Brooks, Ellie Goering, Brayla Johnson, Ellie Keeton), 13.Buhler C (Cora Nuttmann, Ava Schmidt, Payton Ball, Payton Thompson).
100 backstroke: 4.Aivlynn Ehmke 1:17.13, 8.Avery Schrader 1:26.73, 10.Regan Walle 1:33.06.
100 breaststroke: 7.Addy Tech 1:29.93, 9.Evey Brooks 1:35.91, 13.Cassidy Banning.
400 free relay: 2.Buhler A (Reyne Kaufman, Hannah Swain, Grace Schmidt, Aivlynn Ehmke) 4:28.75, 6.Buhler B (Cathlyna Theriot, Avery Schrader, Harper Kendrick, Brayla Johnson) 5:12.69. The Buhler C relay (Cora Nuttmann, Cassidy Banning, Payton Thompson, Payton Ball) also competed.
Hutchinson girls swim team opens season at Salina meet
The Hutchinson High School girls swim team competed in the Salina South Invitational Thursday at the Salina South Natatorium.
It was the first meet of the season for the Salthawk girls swimmers.
The meet was split into two divisions and scored as two different meets.
Buhler won the Salina South team title with 413 points, followed by Hays High with 323, Salina South 309, Great Bend 272, Hutchinson 268 and Salina Central 175.
Salina South won the Salina Central team title with 578 points, followed by Buhler with 441, Hays High 384, Hutchinson 299, Great Bend 291 and Salina Central 207.
Hutchinson Salthawk freshman Alayna Wiggins posted an individual state qualifying time in the 200-yard individual medley and a state consideration time in the 100-yard butterfly.
Wiggins also was on the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays that got state consideration times. Other swimmers on the relays were AJ Gooch, Morgan Most and Julianna Stivers.
Gooch, a junior also achieved state consideration times in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke.
“Every Hutch swimmer had a season-best time and many had lifetime best times,” said Hutchinson swim coach Brad Johnson.
The Hutchinson girls swim team hosts the Hutchinson Invitational at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Hutchinson YMCA. Buhler also will compete in the meet. It is the first home meet of the spring for the Salthawks.
Hutchinson results Salina South Invitational
200 free: 1.AJ Gooch 2:19.73 (state consideration time), 7.Rylee Miller 2:47.77, 13.Selena Eddington 3:16.91.
200 IM: 2.Alayna Wiggins 2:29.84 (state automatic qualifying time).
50 free: 4.Emma Buller 29.35, 9.Avery Saenger 33.45, 15.Kensley Keast 40.93, 16.Addie Yoder 42.09, 17.Kylee Dunn 42.17.
100 fly: 2.Alayna Wiggins 1:09.32 (state consideration time).
100 free: 4.Morgan Most 1:04.61, 5.Julianna Stivers 1:04.74, 11.Avery Saenger 1:14.23, 17.Mariana Pina 1:25.37.
500 free: 3.Emma Buller 6:43.63, 10.SelenaEddington 9:00.72.
200 free relay: 2.Hutchinson A (Morgan Most, Julianna Stivers, Alayna Wiggins, AJ Gooch) 1:55.41, 11.Hutchinson B (Avery Saenger, Addie Yoder, Kensley Keat, Selena Eddington) 2:32.89.
100 back: 2.Julianna Stivers 11:11.60, 7.Morgan Most 1:18.99, 16.Kensley Keast 1:44.51.
400 free relay: 1.Hutchinson A (Alayna Wiggins, Morgan Most, Julianna Stivers, AJ Gooch), 4:14.65 (state consideration time), 8.Hutchinson B (Emma Buller, Mariana Pina, Kylee Dunn, Rylee Miller), 5:29.19.
Halstead wrestlers make Wichita Eagle All-Metro Team
Three Halstead High School wrestlers made the Wichita Eagle’s All-Metro Wrestling Team.
Senior Connor Herman was named to the Second Team Boys, senior Kahlyn Davis Second Team Girls and junior Ava Armstrong Third Team Girls.
Season comes to an end for Washburn men’s basketball team in NCAA national semifinals
Washburn University Sports Information
The No. 5-ranked Washburn Ichabods’ historic season came to an end to the top-ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks in the NCAA Division II National semifinals in a 94-68 win on Thursday in Evansville, Ind.
Washburn, which won the MIAA regular season title and the NCAA II Central Regional, posted a 30-4 record.
The Ichabods are coached by Brett Ballard, an alumnus of Hutchinson High School and the University of Kansas. Ballard has a 10-year-coaching career record of 200-112, including a 167-79 record in eight seasons at Washburn.
The Ichabods scored the first bucket of the game on a layup by Andrew Orr, but a hot-shooting Shark squad, who finished the opening half connecting on 19 of 33 shots for a 57% clip including 7 of 13 from deep as Nova Southeastern (35-1) took a 53-29 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Ichabods improved to 50% from the field hitting 15 of 30 shots but Washburn could not cut into the Shark lead as the Ichabods were outscored 41-39 in the half.
Jacob Hanna led the Washburn Ichabods with 15 points. Orr tallied 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting with a team-high 8 rebounds. Jack Bachelor finished with 11.
Ryker Cisarik led the Sharks with 28 points and the NCAA DII Player of the Year MJ Iraldi scored 25.