[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]
GARDEN CITY, Kan. – The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team earned a Jayhawk Conference road victory at one of the tougher venues in the league Saturday night.
Devonte Bandoo broke a tie game with 35 seconds left in regulation and the No. 1 Blue Dragons defeated the Garden City Broncbusters 68-64 at Conestoga Arena.
The No. 1-ranked Blue Dragons won their fifth game in a row despite scoring a season low offensive output. Hutchinson improves to 10-1 overall and remained in a first-place in the Jayhawk at 6-1. Garden City falls to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the league.
The intense defensive battle featured seven ties and five lead changes, but the Dragons looked like they were taking charge with just more than 7 minutes to play when Hutchinson led 55-45. But the Broncbusters, who were 4-0 at Conestoga Arena entering play on Saturday, rallied to tie the game at 64 with 1:17 left when Pierre Johnson penetrated and scored. After trading missed shots, the Dragons quickly moved the ball up the floor and Bandoo pulled up from 17 feet on the right wing and buried a jumper with 35 seconds to play to give the Blue Dragons a 66-64 lead. The Busters missed a 3-pointer and a wild scramble for the rebound led to a jump ball. The Dragons had possession in their favor. J.J. Rhymes converted just before the final buzzer for the final margin.
Rhymes led the Blue Dragons with 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting. Bandoo hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. James Rojas was the only other Blue Dragon in double figures with 10 points. Kai Mitchell had nine points off the bench and Rheaquone had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Blue Dragons were limited to 34.9 percent shooting (22 of 63), going just 3 of 9 from 3-point range and 21 of 32 from the foul line. The Dragons owned a 50-35 advantage in rebounding.
Garden City was led by Jamir Thomas’ game-high 23 points. Johnson had 14 points. The Busters finished with 25 of 64 shooting (39.4 percent). Garden City was 5 of 21 from 3-point range and 9 of 15 from the foul line.
The Blue Dragons trailed 11-6 just 5 minutes into the game, but battled back to take their first lead of the game when Taylor scored after a Rojas steal to lead 12-11 with 13:11 remaining in the first half. When Rojas scored at the 10:15 mark of the half, Hutch led by five at 21-16.
Mitchell scored inside with 4:18 left to give Hutch a 29-21 lead. The Busters pulled back within 32-28 with 1:51 to play. With some first-half foul trouble, Josh Creach came off the bench to score six points and pull down four rebounds in the first half. His tip-in with 1:26 to go gave the Dragons a 34-28 advantage. Neither team scored in the final minute and the Blue Dragons carried that 34-28 lead into halftime.
Garden City tied the game at 39 with 14:03 to play in the game and took a 42-41 lead after a Russ Cruickshank 3-pointer with 13:20 to play. The Dragons responded with a 6-0 run and led 47-42 after a Mitchell bucket with 11:29 to play.
The Dragons battled in the second half despite shooting only 35.7 percent. The Dragons were 13 of 20 from the free-throw line.
Leading 47-45, the Dragons went on an 8-0 run to lead 55-45 lead after a Curtis Hollis free throw with 7:13 remaining. The Blue Dragons had just one field goal after the next 6 1/2 minutes and Garden City came back to tie the game at 54 with 1:17 left in regulation.
Bandoo broke that streak with his go-ahead jumper with 35 seconds to play in the game.
Hutchinson travels to Butler on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. matchup at the Power Plant in El Dorado.
Brown leads charge against Busters
[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]
GARDEN CITY, Kan. – For the third-straight game sophomore Alicia Brown scored a career high to lead four players in double figures as the No. 12 Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team ran its winning streak to five after a 73-59 victory over the Garden City Broncbusters at Conestoga Arena.
One week ago at Neosho County, Brown established a career high with 19 points. On Wednesday, Brown produced her first career 20-point game. On Saturday at Garden City, Brown topped that with a career-best 21-point performance, hitting 7 of 13 from the field with two 3-pointers and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.
The Blue Dragons improve to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play. The Broncbusters fall to 5-5, 3-4 in the Jayhawk.
Hutchinson shot a blistering 70.6 in the third and fourth quarters as the Blue Dragons extended a seven-point lead to as large as 24 points in the second half. The Blue Dragons were once again plagued by turnovers with 17 of their 23 turnovers in the second half. Garden City scored 24 points of Dragon turnovers.
The Blue Dragons had four players scoring in double figures for the first time this season.
Freshman Jada Mickens had her fourth double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Mickens scored 14 points in the second half.
Tia Bradshaw had two 3-pointers and finished with 15 points. Dejanae Roebuck hit two 3-pointers and finished with 12 points and seven boards.
Hutchinson shot 46.9 percent overall (23 of 49), going 7 of 15 from 3-point range and 20 of 28 from the free-throw line. The Blue Dragons owned a 46-32 rebounding advantage.
Jada Washington had 11 points and Kala Jones had 10 points to lead Garden City. The Busters shot 19 of 66 (31.3 percent), going 7 of 31 from 3-point range and 14 of 18 from the free-throw line. The Busters had 12 turnovers.
Garden City led by as many as four points in the first quarter before the Blue Dragons rallied to take an 11-10 lead after one quarter. The Busters used an 11-3 run and built their largest lead of the game at 19-14 after a Talia Roberts 3-pointer with 7:12 to play in the second quarter. The Blue Dragons then scored seven unanswered points, tying the game on a Roebuck 3-pointer and taking a 21-19 lead after two Mickens free throws with 5:04 remaining in the first half.
Tied at 24, a Bradshaw layup started a 6-0 run as Hutch built a 30-24 lead with 2:39 to play after a Roebuck layup. Leading by 5 in the final minute, Brown scored with 30 seconds to play and the Blue Dragons led 33-26 at halftime.
Garden City pulled within 33-31 before the Blue Dragons exploded with a 12-0 run. Brown had seven points in the run, starting it with a 3-pointer. Then her layup with 5:42 left in the third quarter capped off the run and Hutchinson led 45-31 with 4:18 to play in the third. The Busters made a run and pulled within 51-43 after three quarters.
The Dragons finally broke the game open with a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter Garden City went scoreless for 5 minutes, 6 seconds. Bradshaw and Brown hit 3-pointers in the run and Mickens’ putback with 5:08 left gave the Dragons a 66-43 lead.
The Blue Dragons will conclude their two-game road trip on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff at Butler in El Dorado.