by Steve Carpenter (HCC Sports Information)

SALINA – With an average winning margin of 31.2 points this season, times that the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team has had to grind out possessions late in games to secure victories have been few.

Led by freshman Cynthia Petke down the stretch, the No. 1-ranked Blue Dragons grinded their way into a shot at a national championship on Saturday after a 63-55 victory over No. 6 Walter State in the first national semifinal of the 2015 NJCAA Women’s Division I National Tournament at Salina’s Bicentennial Center.

The 36-0 Blue Dragons reach the national championship game for the second-straight year and for the third time in four seasons. Top-seeded Hutchinson will meet No. 2 seed Chipola College (33-1) at 7 p.m. on Saturday as the Blue Dragons will bid for the program’s first national title.

With two of the nation’s top five defenses on display on Friday, nothing came easy for Hutchinson or Walters State. The Blue Dragons held the Lady Senators 19 points under its 74 point scoring average. HCC was held 18 points under its 81 point scoring average.

With the low-possession game coming down to its final few possessions, Petke made three huge plays that helped Hutchinson advance to Saturday’s championship game.

After Kalani Purcell scored to give HCC a 57-55 lead with 2:25 to play, the Blue Dragons got a defensive stop and called a timeout. Out of the timeout with the shot clock running down, Petke was 24 feet from the basket with few options. She decided to drive to the basket and scored with 1:28 to play to give HCC a 59-55 lead.

“I usually don’t (drive to the hoop),” said Petke, who had her 18th double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. “Coach Ontjes always talks about you creating something for you or your teammate. I thought that was a moment to create something. I saw a gap and decided to go.”

On Walters State’s next possession, Kayonica Tate had a lane to the basket, but Petke stepped in and stole the ball for another defensive stop. Petke’s final decisive play came when she fought for an offensive rebound after a Purcell missed basket. That offensive board led to two Alyx Bloom free throws and a six-point lead with 37.7 seconds to play.

“Cynthia made some really crucial plays,” said HCC head coach John Ontjes, whose team closed the game on a 8-0 run and held Walters State scoreless for the final 2 minutes, 42 seconds of the game.

Hutchinson broke two significant team records and tied three others in Friday’s victory.

The 2014-15 Blue Dragons broke the program record for points scored (2,896) and total rebounds (1,676) for a season. Hutchinson also tied team records for wins in a season (36), longest winning streak (36) and best start to a season (36-0).

Purcell led the Blue Dragons with 21 points and eight rebounds on 8 of 16 shooting, including 5 of 7 from the free-throw line. Bloom was a perfect 6 of 6 from the free-throw line and finished with 11 points and three assists. Shakira Harding had two 3-pointers and finished with eight points.

The Blue Dragons had a season-low 21 field goals on just 45 attempts (46.7 percent). HCC was 3 of 6 from the 3-point line and 18 of 29 from the free-throw line. HCC owned a 36-28 rebounding advantage, but had to overcome 21 turnovers.

Jephany Brown had a huge second half for Walters State (32-3), which will play Trinity Valley in Saturday’s consolation game at 5 p.m. scored 19 of her game-high 22 points in the second half, sinking four 3-point goals. ArJae Saunders had 18 points.

Walters State was just the third team this season to shoot better than 40 percent, hitting 23 of 55 shots (41.9 percent), hitting 4 of 10 from 3-point range and 5 of 6 from the foul line. The Lady Senators had 15 turnovers.

Harding’s first 3-pointer of the game gave Hutchinson an early 8-2 lead. A Clemence LeFebvre basket at the 14:03 mark bumped the lead to eight at 13-5. Walters State put together a 10-2 run to knot the game at 15-15 on an Ant’Tresia Patton’s score with 9:51 to play.

The Blue Dragons had to play most of the final 9:35 of the opening half without Purcell, who had two personal fouls assessed. She left the game with the score tied at 15-all. The Blue Dragons went without a field goal for better than 7 minutes of the first half, but never relinquished the lead. Petke finally broke the field-goal drought with a three-point play at the 8:59 mark to build an 18-15 lead. Petke scored six points the final minutes of the opening half.

“I was ready to do anything for my team to win,” Petke said. “When Kalani picked up her second foul, everybody was down and I thought I had to do something for the team.”

“It’s been like that the whole season,” Purcell said. “When I’ve gotten foul trouble, she would step up her game and she stepped up her whole game tonight and carried us to the win.”

The Dragons surged late with a 9- 0 run, building 30-20 lead after a LeFebvre basket with 1:03 to play. Walters State scored the final four points of the half to cut the HCC lead to 30-24 at halftime.

Harding dropped her second 3-pointer of the game to open the second half and push the Blue Dragon lead to nine points, but the second half quickly became about HCC turnovers and Walters State’s Brown. HCC had nine second-half turnovers that led to 12 Lady Senator points.

Held to three points in the first half, Brown hit her first four 3-point attempts of the second half, the fourth trey tied the game at 55-all with 2:42 to play. Walters State was never able to hold a lead, but forced five ties.

The Blue Dragons built a 47-39 lead with 10:03 to play when Purcell caught a perfectly placed lob pass from Par McNair and scored.  The Lady Senators went on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 52 on two Sanders free throws.

A Bloom transition layup off a LeFebvre steal helped HCC built a 52-49 lead, but Brown answered with a 3-pointer at the 4:15 mark to tie the game. Purcell then got two offensive rebounds before converting a three-point play after getting fouled with 3:00 to go to hand HCC a 55-52 lead, but Brown hurt again answered for Walters State with her fourth 3-pointer to tie the game at 55-all with 2:42 to play.

GAME NOTES – The 2014-15 sophomores moved into a second-place tie for most wins by a sophomore class, matching the 2014 sophomores with 71 wins and a 71-1 record. … HCC is 16-7 in six NJCAA Tournament appearances, going 3-2 in the semifinal round. … HCC is now 7-0 vs. nationally ranked teams. … The Blue Dragons moved up to No. 4 on the made field goals list with 540. … Cynthia Petke moved up to No. six in single-season scoring (550 points) and is tied for sixth in single-season field goals (217). … Clemence LeFebvre moved up to No. 14 on the season scoring list (488 points). … Kalani Purcell moved up to No. 4 in single-season assists (181) and fifth in single-season blocks at 46). … Purcell ties her freshman season total of steals at 124, which ranks No. 2 in team history.

(HCC Sports Information)