COLBY, Kan. — Four Falcon (CO) Falcons dropped double-digit scoring, led by 16 from Ethan Royx, to defeat the Hutch High Salthawks 60-46 in the Orange & Black Classic opener.

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[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. — Facing an uphill battle all night long at the ICC Fieldhouse, Kai Mitchell‘s old-fashioned three-point play with a fraction over 10 seconds to play finally put the No. 8 Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team over the top.

Trailing by four points with 3 minutes, 14 seconds to play, the eighth-ranked Blue Dragons closed the game on a 9-3 run to rally and defeat the Pirates 76-74 on Wednesday night at the ICC Fieldhouse.

Hutchinson improves to 14-2 overall and maintains its share of the Jayhawk Conference lead with Barton at 10-2. The Pirates fall to 8-7 (5-7 KJCCC.)

The Blue Dragons trailed 71-67 with 3:14 left and 73-71 with 1:09 to go. With 57.9 seconds to go, Devonte Bandoo hit two free throws to tie the game at 73. After trading turnovers, Indy’s Dante Jefferson gave the Pirates a 74-73 lead after hitting 1 of 2 free throws with 24.5 seconds to go.

That set up Mitchell’s heroics. Taking a feed from Rob Whitfield, Mitchell drove to his right, quickly spun to his left, scored and was fouled with 10.2 seconds left. The converted the three-point play and Hutch led 76-74. The Pirates looked poised to send the game to overtime, but Jefferson’s point-blank shot was a big strong and the ball rolled out of bounds as the buzzer sounded.

Mitchell finished with 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.

For the second-straight game, sophomore Devonte Bandoo established a new career high, scoring 26 points on 5 of 5 3-point shooting to lead the Blue Dragons. The five 3-pointers tied Bandoo’s career high. Bandoo scored 16 points in the second half to lead the Blue Dragons, who trailed by as many as nine points in the first half.

Whitfield also had three big 3-pointers for the Blue Dragons. He and freshman James Rojas finished with 11 points each.

The Blue Dragons shot 48.1 percent for the game (26 of 54), hitting a sizzling 9 of 13 from 3-point range and 15 of 25 from the foul line. Hutchinson had to overtime 22 turnovers, but out-rebounded Independence 40-36.

Romani Hanson led Independence with 15 points. DeAnthony McCallum had 10 points.

Independence shot 38.8 percent for the game (26 of 67), going 6 of 21 from 3-point range and 16 of 22 from the free-throw line.

The Blue Dragons shot 40 percent and committed 40 turnovers in the first half. The Pirates scored the first four points of the game. They used a 7-0 run to lead 13-6 after an Alex Torres 3-pointer with 15:19 to go in the first half. The lead increased to nine at 20-11 on a Sean Pollack jumper in the paint with 10:29 remaining. Indy maintained that eight-point margin with a Hanson 3-pointer at the 7:26 mark for a 25-17 lead.

The Dragons made it a one possession game on a J.J. Rhymes transition hoop with 4:54 left. They cut the deficit to 30-29 with two Mitchell free throws at the 3:41 mark A Bandoo 3-pointer with 2:30 left tied the game at 32, but seven Hutch turnovers in the final 4 minutes helped Indy take a 34-32 lead at halftime.

Bandoo started the second half with a 3-pointer on the first possession of the half that gave the Dragons a 35-34 lead. That powered a 10-1 Hutch run to start the game, The Dragons led 42-35 on a Sal Nuhu bucket with 16 minutes left in the half. The Dragons kept that lead of six when Rojas knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:24 left to give Hutch a 47-41 lead.

Independence fought back to take a 64-62 lead with 6:18 left on a Ricky Edwards 3-pointer. Rhymes tied the game and then the teams traded 3-pointers. Bandoo hit a trey with 4:46 left that tied the game at 67.

Indy scored the next four points to lead 71-67 with 3:14 left. That’s when the Blue Dragons’ finally started getting several key defensive stops and set up the wild finish that was capped by Mitchell’s three-point play with 10.2 seconds remaining.

The Blue Dragons will play Dodge City at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday to start a four-game homestand.

GAME NOTES – This was Hutchinson’s ninth-straight victory over Independence. The Dragons are now 45-23 all-time against the Pirates, 11-10 at the ICC Fieldhouse. … J.J. Rhymes was held to a season-low nine points. … The Dragons are now 4-1 when trailing at halftime this season. … Hutch’s 22 turnovers, were the second highest total this season.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

INDEPENDENCE, Kan. — The No. 18-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team extended a pair of winning streaks Wednesday night, but needed a grind-out type effort to get the job done at Independence.

With their leading scorer mired in foul trouble and Independence’s defense swarming, the Blue Dragons battled for a 56-53 victory at the ICC Fieldhouse in a showdown of two of the four teams tied for the Jayhawk Conference lead when the day started.

Hutchinson’s winning streak is now up to 12 games heading into a four-game homestand that starts on Saturday against Dodge City. The Blue Dragons won their 14th-straight game over the Pirates.

The Blue Dragons improve to 14-2 overall and remain tied with Seward County and Cowley for first place in the Jayhawk at 10-2. Independence falls to 11-4 overall and 9-3 in the KJCCC.

Hutchinson led 24-14 early in the second quarter, but with leading scorer Jada Mickens on the bench with two fouls, Independence closed the half on a 20-4 run to take a 34-28 lead with seconds remaining in the half. The Dragons trailed only 34-31 at halftime as Tia Bradshaw banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Blue Dragons recovered and held Independence to only six third-quarter points and led 41-40 after three quarters. Hutchinson never relinquished the lead in the fourth quarter, but Independence had six possessions in the final 10 minutes to tie or take the lead. The Pirates went 0 of 6 in those situations.

Freshman Sara Cramer scored 12 points to lead the Blue Dragons. Cramer hit three 3-pointers and three huge free throws in the final stages of the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.

Freshman Dejanae Roebuck had 11 points, a game-high seven rounds and three assists. Playing only 19 minutes because of foul trouble, Mickens finished with 10 points and three steals. Alicia Brown, Bradshaw and Kayla Barber all had seven points each.

The Blue Dragons shot 40.8 percent for the game (20 of 49), hitting 6 of 17 3-pointers and 10 of 14 from the free-throw line. The Dragons were out-rebounded for the first time this season, 31-29. Hutch had 16 turnovers.

Fatarah Kinnard and Erica Moore had 12 points each to lead Independence. Elif Aktas had 11 points.

The Pirates were 20 of 48 shooting (41.7 percent) overall, 7 of 20 from 3-point range and 6 of 15 from the free-throw line. The Pirates had 14 turnovers.

There were four early lead changes in the first quarter, but when Kinnard hit a 3-pointer with 2:47 to play in the opening period, the Dragons trailed 12-8. The Blue Dragons responded with 13 unanswered points in a run that continued into the second quarter. The Dragons took a 13-12 lead on a Brown free throw. They took a 19-12 lead at the first-quarter buzzer on a Cramer 3-pointer. Barber scored on Hutch’s first possession of the second half to lead 21-12. Hutch’s 13-0 run was over 3 minutes, 16 seconds.

Barber hit a 3-pointer to extend that surge to 16-2 and give the Blue Dragons their largest lead of 10 at 24-14 with 8:24 to play in the second quarter. Indy went on a 10-2 run to pull within 2-24 with 3:20 to play. Brown scored inside to stop that run. Indy came back with another run of 10 unanswered run by Cayla Trotter with 9 seconds to go for a 34-28 lead.

Bradshaw then hit her halfcourt buzzer-beater to cut the Dragon deficit to 34-31 at halftime.

The Dragons erased their deficit with a Cramer 3-pointer with 7:13 to play in the third that knotted the game at 34. The Blue Dragons held Indy to 1 of 9 shooting in the third quarter and outscored the Pirates 10-6 to lead 41-40 after three periods.

The Blue Dragons held Independence scoreless for the first 4:21 of the fourth quarter and extended the lead to 45-40 on a pair of baskets by Roebuck. She scored again at the 4:14 mark to give Hutch a 48-43 lead and when Mickens knocked down a jumper with 2:44 left, Hutch led 50-44. The Pirates scored on their next two possessions to pull within 50-48.

Leading 53-50, the Dragons got a key defensive stop when Alicia Brown intercepted an Indy entry pass. Cramer hit two free throws with 19.1 seconds to go for a 55-50 lead. Kinnard banked in a 3-pointer with 9.4 seconds to go to pull the Pirates within 55-53. Cramer was fouled with 5.1 seconds left. She hit the first, but missed the second free throw for a three-point lead. Indy was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 22-11 all-time against Independence, 8-2 at the ICC Fieldhouse. … The Dragons are now 1-2 in games when trailing at halftime this season. … Dejanae Roebuck‘s five assists tied a career high. … Sara Cramer had at least three 3-pointers in a game for the fourth time in the last six games.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The top two individual scorers in the Jayhawk Conference will meet for the first time this season as sophomore guard J.J. Rhymes and the No. 8-ranked Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team hits the road Wednesday to meet the Independence Pirates and guard DeAnthony McCallum.

Game time at the ICC Fieldhouse is at 8 p.m. Wednesday’s game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 7:50 p.m. with Rusty Hilst (play-by-play) and Daren Dunn (analysis) calling the action. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will also stream the game live beginning at 7:50 p.m.

Rhymes comes off a 31-point game in Hutchinson’s 103-75 win over the Allen Red Devils on Saturday at the Sports Arena. He’s had 56 points in his last two games combined and has five games of 25 or more points. On Saturday, Rhymes became the 22nd Blue Dragon to reach the 900-point mark for his career.

The sophomore guard from Phoenix leads the Jayhawk Conference at 20.6 points per game. Rhymes is shooting 49.6 percent from the field, 34.3 percent from 3-point range and 68.2 percent from the free-throw line. Rhymes goes to the free-throw line 7.3 times per game, the most in the Jayhawk Conference.

Indy’s McCallum is second in the Jayhawk at 18.3 points per game. McCallum shoot 46.4 percent, 38.9 percent from 3-point range and 81.3 percent from the foul line. McCallum averages 2.0 3-pointers per game and goes to the foul line 6.5 times per game. McCallum has scored a season-high 29 points twice and comes off a 26-point game in a victory on Saturday over Dodge City.

The Blue Dragons play their final road game before a four-game homestand that begins on Saturday with Dodge City. Hutchinson is 13-2 overall and 9-2 in the Jayhawk, tied with Barton for first place in the league. Coffeyville and Cowley are tied for third at 8-3. Colby and Garden City are tied for fifth at 7-4.

As the league season approaches the halfway mark on Saturday, Independence finds itself four games off the paces of the Blue Dragons and Cougars at 8-6 overall and 5-6 in conference play.

The Blue Dragons rallied from last Wednesday’s road loss at Cowley with a 103-75 victory over Allen at the Sports Arena. J.J. Rhymes and Devonte Bandoo scored 31 and 25 points, respectively, in Hutchinson’s victory over the Red Devils.

Hutchinson enters play on Wednesday as the No. 3 scoring team in the Jayhawk Conference at 89.1 points per game. At 47.9 percent shooting, the Dragons are No. 4 in the league in field-goal percentage. Hutch is fifth in the league at 36.1 percent from 3-point range. The Blue Dragons are the leading rebounding team in the conference at 47.6 boards per contest. The Dragons are No. 2 in the KJCCC in scoring defense at 69.1 points per game, allowing 37.3 percent field-goal shooting and 27.9 percent from long range.

The Pirates are 10th in the conference in scoring at 79.6 points per game. Indy shoots 43.9 percent overall and 33.8 percent from 3-point range. The Pirates make 7.6 3-pointers per game, fifth most in the KJCCC. The Pirates are eighth in scoring defense at 74.0 points per game allowed. Opposing teams are shooting 43.8 percent overall and 36.9 percent from 3-point range.