EMPORIA, Kan. — Join Glen Grunwald of Eagle Sports on Country 102.9 at 5:25 p.m. for Salthawk Basketball. The Hutch High girls face Shawnee Heights in the opening round of the Glacier’s Edge Tournament.

 

 

Complete Schedule

Thursday
5:30 #2 Hutchinson vs #7 Shawnee Heights
7:00 #6 Great Bend Panthers vs #3 Emporia
5:30 #5 Blue Valley Southwest vs #4 Wichita Southeast *
7:00 #8 Shawnee Mission North vs #1 Olathe East *

Friday
3:15 BVSW/Wichita SE loser vs SM North/Olathe East loser
4:45 Hutch/Shawnee Heights loser vs Great Bend/Emporia loser
6:15 BVSW/Wichita SE winner vs SM North/Olathe East winner
7:45 Hutch/Shawnee Heights winner vs Great Bend/Emporia winner

Saturday
11:00 7th Place Game *
11:00 5th Place Game
12:30 3rd Place Game
2:00 Championship Game

*-Indicates games to be played at EHS North Gym

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

The 17th-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team finished out a rare four-game conference homestand with a decisive 71-47 victory over the Pratt Beavers on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

The win was a milestone for the program, winning for the 500th time in The Sports Arena.

More importantly, the victory over Pratt kept the Blue Dragons one game out of first place in the Jayhawk conference. The Blue Dragons improved to 17-3 overall and 13-3 in conference play. Pratt drops to 2-17 and 1-15.

Sophomore Dejanae Roebuck led the Blue Dragons in scoring with her second-straight 20-point game. She had 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting, including a 3-pointer, with three rebounds and three steals.

Roebuck’s inside presence helped the Blue Dragons shoot 64.3 percent in a first quarter where Hutchinson built a 24-11 lead.

Hutchinson finished shooting 45.8 percent from the field (27 of 59) despite two extended scoreless streaks of 6 minutes, 44 seconds in the second period and 6 minutes, 11 seconds primarily through the fourth quarter.

Freshman Jada Mickens had 13 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Alicia Brown finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Kayla Barber had nine points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Blue Dragons.

Hutchinson out-rebounded Pratt 42-26 with 15 offensive rebounds. The Dragons had only 11 turnovers.

Jada Catlin had 13 points to lead Pratt. Nya Mach and Dakota Smith had eight points each.

The Beavers shot 30.4 percent from the floor (14 of 46), going 6 of 22 from 3-point range and 13 of 19 from the foul line. The Beavers also committed 18 turnovers.

The Blue Dragons jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead just 4 minutes, 32 seconds into the game. The lead blossomed to 19-3 after a Roebuck 3-pointer with 2:02 remaining in the period. Roebuck finished with nine points in the period as Hutchinson led 24-11 after one quarter.

Anther inside bucket by Roebuck gave Hutch a 28-11 lead with 8:55 remaining. After trading baskets, Pratt scored four points in a row to cut the lead to 30-17 with 7:26 to play. Neither team scored for the next 4:43and Pratt put together a 7-0 run to pull within 30-21 with 1:48 to go in the half. The Dragons’ drought ended at 6:44 in elapsed time and nine-straight missed shots with a Kelsey Brett 3-pointer with 1:37 to play. Barber added another 3-pointer and Hutch led 36-21 at halftime.

The Blue Dragons shot 56.3 percent in the third quarter and outscored Pratt 23-13. The lead reached 20 for the first time when a Barber free throw with 2:40 left made it 50-30. The Dragons went on a 9-0 run to build a 56-30 lead after a Mickens putback with 1:37 left. Brett’s layup with 27 seconds to go make it 59-32 and 59-34 after three quarters.

The offenses went silent against to start the fourth quarter and Pratt scored the only five points in the first five minutes of the period. The Beavers’ 7-0 run pulled with 59-39 with 5:05 left after a Catlin 3-pointer. Roebuck finally ended the scoreless streak of 6:11 with an inside basket at the 4:16 mark. Hutch finished the game with a 13-8 run.

The Blue Dragons will be at Coffeyville for a 5 p.m. game on Saturday at Nellis Hall.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons completed their 36th regular-season sweep of Pratt and are now 75-11 overall, 37-5 at the Sports Arena. … The Blue Dragons are 500-132 all-time in the Sports Arena. … This was Dejanae Roebuck‘s sixth time to lead the team in scoring this season. … The Blue Dragons are 9-1 at home. … The Dragons have out-rebounded 19 of 20 opponents this season. … The Blue Dragons outscored Pratt 40-12 in the paint.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Sophomore J.J. Rhymes broke the 1,000 career-point plateau and helped the No. 12 Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team earn its 17th victory of the season on Wednesday night.

Rhymes scored a game-high 28 points to lead four players in double figures as the Blue Dragons led Pratt for more than 36 minutes, but never felt comfortable in a 104-84 Jayhawk Conference victory at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons improve to 17-3 and remain one game behind first-place Barton. Hutchinson is 13-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. Pratt falls to 8-12 and 5-11. This was Hutch’s seventh-consecutive victory over Pratt.

With his 19th point of the game, which came midway through the second half, Rhymes became the 17th Blue Dragon in program history to score at least 1,000 points. Now with 1,009 career points, Rhymes moved past Cortez Barnes into 17th on the Dragon career scoring list.

Rhymes, who was 10 of 22 shooting overall and 8 of 9 from the foul line, had had six assists and two steals to lead the Blue Dragons for his 11th 20-point game of the season.

With sophomore Devonte Bandoo unavailable on Wednesday, the Blue Dragons got some key scoring from some unlikely sources.

Freshman Curtis Hollis scored a career-high 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers. Hollis also finished with five rebounds and four assists.

Sophomore Tiylar Cotton, who was making his second career start, posted his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Cotton also had a career-high six assists.

Freshman Rheaquone Taylor was 7 of 7 shooting for 14 points and eight rebounds.

Hutchinson shot 53.4 percent for the game (39 of 73), going 7 of 22 from 3-point range and 19 of 20 from the free-throw line.

The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Pratt 48-29. Hutch had 28 team assists on 39 makes – Rob Whitfield dished out a career-high eight assists. He also had a career-best six steals.

Pratt’s James Brooks nailed 7 of 10 from 3-point range to finish with a team-high 27. Asem Johnson had 21 points.

The Beavers shot 41.9 percent (31 of 74), including 9 of 33 from 3-point range and 13 of 16 from the foul line.

Trailing 9-8 with 16:05 remaining in the first half, Hollis scored in transition to give Hutch a lead it never relinquished from that point. Hollis started a 6-0 run and finished it with two free throws for a 14-9 lead with 13:34 remaining in the half.

Leading 14-11, the Dragons scored nine unanswered points to take a 23-11 lead on a Taylor tip-in with 9:54 remaining. From that point, the high-scoring Beavers made several runs at the Dragons, closing to within 25-18 with 6:17 left and 32-28 after a Brooks’ 3-pointer with 4:07 to go in the half.

Hutch had a key 10-2 run as Cotton hit a 3-pointer and four-straight free throws to regain a 42-30 lead with 2:42 remaining in the half. Shooting 16 of 35 in the half and hitting five 3-pointers, the Blue Dragons led 44-34 at halftime.

The second half played out much the same way in which Hutch would pull away only to see Pratt score quickly to stay within striking distance. The lead never fell below double figures but was cut to 10 at 51-41 on a Brooks 3-pointer with 17:37 to go.

The Dragons finally got the lead past 15 points after a Hollis 3-pointer made it 61-45 with 14:37 to play. That 16-point lead was the smallest for Hutch over the remainder of the game.

Hutchinson used a 22-8 run to finally put Pratt away. A Hollis dunk gave the Dragons their first 20-point lead at 73-53 with 10:42 left. Sal Nuhu‘s dunk with 8:55 to go capped the run and gave the Blue Dragons an 83-55 lead.

The Blue Dragons outscored Pratt 60-50 in the second half shooting 60.5 percent (23 of 38).

Hutchinson travels to Coffeyville for a 7 p.m. game on Saturday at Nellis Hall.

GAME NOTES – Blue Dragon head coach Steve Eck won his 248th game on the Blue Dragon bench and 898th in his 39-year career. … The Blue Dragons are 143-24 all-time against Pratt, including 66-11 in Hutchinson. … J.J. Rhymes moved past John Ontjes into eighth place on the career free throws list with 278. … The Dragons are 10-1 at home this season. … Hutch is 9-0 this season when shooting 50 percent or better. … The 60 points in the second half marked the third time in four halves against Pratt to score at least 60 in a half. … The 50 points allowed in the second half tied an opponent high for points in a half against the Dragons. … This was Hutch’s fifth 100-point game of the season.