[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — While the eras, the players, the style of game and the strategies make it impossible to draw any comparisons, the one thing that unites Steve Eck and Charles Sesher is the ultra-high bars both set as the head men’s basketball coach at Hutchinson Community College.

Sesher coached the Blue Dragons for 24 seasons (1929 through 1957 – there were three years during World War II the athletic program at Hutchinson was suspended), Sesher amassed 259 victories with the Blue Dragons. That record reached 61 years in the 2017-18 season.

On Tuesday during the Blue Dragons’ 2018 NJCAA Tournament opening-round 84-60 victory over Cape Fear Community College, Sesher’s long-standing record fell as Eck became the new all-time coaching wins leader for the Blue Dragons.

“Right now, it doesn’t even faze me. I’m happy for the guys,” Eck said in Tuesday’s postgame news conference at the Sports Arena. “That win should have come in the regular season, but it didn’t. I’m angry at myself about that.

“This national tournament is all about the guys. It’s about playing and enjoying it.”

It took Eck nine seasons and 311 total games to chase down Sesher. Eck’s record at Hutchinson after Tuesday’s victory is 260-51. His overall junior college record over 20 seasons is 592-102 at Butler County, Redlands, Cowley and Hutchinson.

Sesher needed 410 games to achieve his 259-151 Blue Dragon record. It should be noted that during Sesher’s era, seasons were on average 10 to 15 games shorter than today’s seasons that consist of 30 regular-season games plus whatever postseason a team puts together.

Upon hearing the news that their head coach was the Blue Dragons’ new all-time coaching leader, J.J. Rhymes and Devonte Bandooboth congratulated their head coach, who helped them win an NJCAA National Championship as freshman last season. Both were also grateful of Eck’s tutelage.

“Steve is a good coach,” said Rhymes, who had a game-high 19 points on Tuesday against Cape Fear. “Sometimes we are like ‘come on, coach,’ but at the end of the day, he always knows what he’s talking about.

“I’m lucky to have him as a coach.”

Eck is the 14th head coach in the 87-year history of Blue Dragon basketball. Eck has led the Blue Dragons to five NJCAA National Tournaments (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), only one appearance shy of the record set by Blue Dragon Hall of Famer Gene Keady.

Eck is the only coach to lead the Blue Dragons to four consecutive NJCAA Tournaments.

The Blue Dragons have won two Jayhawk Conference Championships (2016, 2017) and two Region VI Championships (2013, 2016) under Eck. Eck’s 2016 team finished as the NJCAA National Runner-up and last year’s team won the program’s third national championship in its history.

The Blue Dragon head coach, who is a Reno County native from Haven, was quick to point out a very important person in his success at Hutchinson – assistant coach Jay Cyriac.

“Jay has been with me for seven years now,” Eck said. “You can’t mention all-time wins without mentioning Jay Cyriac. He goes out and gets all of these out-of-state players. He deserves a lot of credit.”

With Tuesday’s victory, the 11th-seeded Blue Dragons advance to the second round of the NJCAA Tournament. Hutchinson will play No. 6-seed Florida Southwestern Stat eat 8 p.m. on Wednesday for a berth in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

LUBBOCK, Texas — Ice-cold shooting in the first half doomed the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team in its NJCAA Tournament opening-round game against the San Jacinto Gators on Monday.

Shooting just 3 for 20 in the opening half, the No. 18-seeded Blue Dragons dug a hole too deep to climb out of as Hutchinson dropped its opening-round game 62-51 at the RIP Griffin Center.

The Blue Dragons close the 2017-18 season with a 27-7 overall record. San Jacinto (25-10) advances to play No. 2 overall seed Gulf Coast State on Tuesday in the second round of the NJCAA Tournament.

Hutchinson went on a 4 1/2-minute scoreless drought in the first quarter in which the Gators scored 10 unanswered points to lead 12-2. Hutch missed 11 of its first 12 shots with six turnovers to start the game. When Kelsey Brett scored on a backcut, the Dragons trailed 16-6. Hutch was down 18-6 after one period.

From that point, it was an uphill climb. The Dragons were only 1 of 8 shooting in the second quarter and trailed by as many as 15 points at 25-10 on an Alexus Jones 3-pointer with 4:01 to play in the second quarter. The Blue Dragons made only 1 of 8 shots in the second period and trailed 30-17 at halftime.

San Jac’s lead was 47-36 after three quarters when the Dragons went on a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter which was capped by Roebuck’s steal, layup and three-point play with 8:33 to play that cut the Hutch deficit to 47-43. The Gators answered that challenge with an 8-0 run over the next 2 minutes, 43 seconds to reclaim control of the game. The Blue Dragons never drew closer than nine points for the remainder of the contest.

Roebuck led the Blue Dragons with her 14th double-double this season, going for a career-high 24 points and 12 rebounds. Roebuck was 7 of 14 shooting, nailing three 3-point goals.

Tia Bradshaw finished with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting with a 3-pointer. Kelsey Brett finished with five points. Jada Mickens had four points.

The Blue Dragons closed the game shooting 16 of 46 (34.8 percent), hitting 5 of 25 from 3-point range and 14 of 21 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded the Gators 34-27, but committed 16 turnovers.

San Jacinto dominated in the paint, outscoring Hutchinson 36-18.

Bryan finished with 19 points and Maddison Glass had 12 points with seven assists.

San Jacinto becomes just the third team in the John Ontjes era to shoot 50 percent in a game against Hutchinson, hitting 24 of 48 total shots. The Gators were 5 of 15 from 3-point range and 9 of 16 from the foul line.

WICHITA, Kan. — Devonte’ Graham didn’t know it, but he was one point shy of tying the venue scoring record at Intrust Bank Arena.

Trailing by 10 in the first half, Graham and the Jayhawks had bigger things to worry about. Graham scored 15 of his team’s 22 points to close out the first half of action Thursday afternoon against Penn. Kansas went on a 22-5 run to finish the final 7:03.

The momentum eventually subsided in the second half as Penn went on a 5-0 spurt and forced Bill Self into a timeout with 12:33 to play. Just over a minute later, the Quakers were down 4.

While post play was a concern for the Jayhawks entering this game — Udoka Azubuike was a game-time decision and played only three minutes — the Quakers stayed in the game with three-point shooting. The Quakers hit five three-pointers in the first half. Sophomore Ryan Betley and Senior Caleb Wood each nailed two. Wood drilled two more threes in the second half and finished with 14 points. Betley had 8 points in the first half and did not score again.

When the three-point shooting fizzled for the Quakers, A.J. Brodeur picked up the slack on the inside. The 6-foot-8 sophomore dropped 14 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.

Despite a handful of points coming late when the game was already at hand, KU sophomore Mitch Lightfoot nearly finished with a double-double. Lightfoot, who played 27 minutes and blocked three shots, finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds.

Only two players — Kevin Jones (West Virginia) and Justin Hurtt (Tulsa) — have ever scored 30 points in Intrust Bank Arena. At halftime, Devonte’ Graham had 19. With 7:33 left to play, he had 24. Even though Graham slowed down and went somewhat cold, the scoring record was still in danger as he reached 29 points with just under 6 minutes left.

Graham was asked after the game if he knew how close he was to the record. “I did not,” Graham said, then he joked about his missed free throw. He was 8 of 9 from the charity stripe.

FINAL: Kansas 76 Penn 60

Kansas will play Saturday against Seton Hall or NC State.

WICHITA, Kan. — It was something so magical, not even the University of Kansas radio broadcasters had seen anything quite like it.

Fans of all ages filled Intrust Bank Arena for KU’s open practice Wednesday afternoon. Brian Hanni, Voice of the Jayhawks, said he’d never seen so much support and enthusiasm at an open practice. The local schools bused children over to fill the arena. Children screamed at the top of their lungs and waved signs encouraging the Jayhawks to defeat the Quakers of Penn.

With the dynamic atmosphere, one might think it was game day. For many in attendance, it was.

Kansas players did not disappoint, putting on a shooting and dunking display that wooed the crowd. Svi Mykhailiuk dropped in one three after another as spectators chanted and cheered him on to hit another.

Udoka Azubuike even got thunderous applause when he hit five free throws in a row. The 7-footer from Nigeria is shooting just 41.6 percent from the charity stripe this season. Coach Bill Self said he is optimistic that Doke can provide some positive minutes Thursday. The sophomore center suffered a knee injury before the Big XII Tournament in Kansas City. Self said he is optimistic that Azubuike can play some tomorrow, but is not overly optimistic the big man can provide minutes at 70 percent to 80 percent of his normal healthiness. Self says Doke is a game-time decision, but did note that 70 percent today could be 90 percent by Saturday, should the Jayhawks advance.

Senior guard Devonte’ Graham capped off an exhilarating practice with a half-court heave.

The University of Kansas Jayhawks play the Quakers of Penn Thursday afternoon at 1.