By Steve Carpenter (HCC Sports Information)

SALINA – A relentless Chipola defense overpowered the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team over the first 16 minutes of the first half and the hole was too big to climb out of in the 2015 NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game.
Held to just three field goals over the first 17 minutes of the game, Hutchinson ultimately fell behind by as many as 15 points and lost to Chipola 54-46 at Salina’s Bicentennial Center.
Hutchinson ends its season at 36-1 and finishes as the national runner-up for the second-straight year and for the third time in four seasons. Chipola (34-1) wins its first national championship.
Hutchinson’s five two-year sophomores – Kalani Purcell, Alyx Bloom, Shakira Harding, Jessica Daughhetee and Sydney Benoit – finish their Blue Dragon careers with a stellar 71-2 record. The only two losses the group suffered were in the national championship game.
Bloom led Hutchinson with 14 points, scoring 10 points after halftime. Purcell closed out her career with her 45th career double-double. Scoring just one point in the first half, Purcell finished with 11 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. Purcell picked up her sixth career statistical record, surpassing Chelsea Small for the Blue Dragons’ career blocked shots record with 94.
Purcell and Cynthia Petke were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Sueterrica Key led all scorers with 20 points to pace Chipola. She hit 3 of 10 from 3-point range. Tournament MVP Evelyn Akhator had 10 points and 14 rebounds. Kendra Martin also finished with 10 points, but hit two decisive shots that sealed the Blue Dragons’ fate.
HCC trailed 24-17 at halftime and after a quick 8-0 run by Chipola to start the second half; the Blue Dragons trailed 32-17 with 18:19 to play in the 2nd half. The Dragons finally found some offensive success and chipped away at the deficit, cutting the lead to 39-33 after a Clemence LeFebvre hoop with 7:11 to go.
Out of the timeout, Martin drained back-to-back 3-pointers and Rosemarie Julien added a third to give Chipola a 48-35 lead with 4:10 to play.
Chipola held Hutchinson to three field goals over the first 17 minutes of the game and 5 of 23 in the first half. For the game, the Blue Dragons shot 34.6 percent (18 of 52), hitting 3 of 15 from 3-point range and 7 of 9 from the foul line.
HCC actually out-shot and out-rebounded Chipola. The Indians shot 19 of 60 (31.7 percent), but hit 9 of 27 from 3-point range.

CHICAGO (IL) – Illinois-Chicago has chosen Steve McClain as its men’s basketball coach, according to multiple reports Saturday.

UIC is expected to make an announcement Monday morning, with a news conference to follow Wednesday.

McClain has been an assistant at Indiana under Tom Crean for five seasons and was 157-115 in nine seasons as head coach at Wyoming, which he led to one NCAA tournament and three NIT appearances. He also was an assistant for three years at Colorado.

McClain led HCC to its second NJCAA National Championship in 1994 and was an assistant to Dave Farrar when HCC won its first NJCAA title in 1988.

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)

by Steve Carpenter (HCC Sports Information)

SALINA – The No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team knocked off its sixth nationally ranked team on Thursday and advanced to the NJCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament Final Four for the fourth-straight season.

Led by sophomore Kalani Purcell’s 44th career double-double, four players scored in double figures and the bench turned in critical minutes as the top-seeded Blue Dragons defeated No. 3 Northwest Florida State 68-54 in the first of four quarterfinals at Salina’s Bicentennial Center.

The Blue Dragons improved to 35-0 and will play in the national semifinals for the fourth-consecutive season and for the fifth time in program history. Hutchinson will play No. 5 seed Walter State in a 6 p.m. semifinal on Friday.

Hutchinson led 32-18 at halftime, but saw that 14-point advantage whittle away. Northwest eventually tied the game at 43-all with 8:36 to play. Needing a surge of momentum, freshmen bench players Par McNair and Mandy Madden provided the spark.

On HCC’s next possession, McNair drilled a clutch 3-pointer from the top of the key to regain the lead. On Northwest’s next possession, Madden swatted away a point-blank shot opportunity for a defensive stop. The Dragons made it a 7-0 run when Clemence LeFebrvre was fouled while sinking a 3-point shot and made the free throws.

“Our bench was very important,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “Par hit a huge 3 when the game was tied and we gained some momentum back. Mandy was very solid tonight and she got a lot done for us.”

“I was just the open man and then found me,” McNair said.

HCC increased the run to 9-0 when Madden intercepted a pass and fed it ahead to McNair, who had an ankle-breaking pass fake and hit a layup with 6:52 to go for a 52-43 lead. The decisive run finished out at 15 unanswered points over a span of 3 minutes, 37 seconds to build a 58-43 lead.

Purcell posted her 26th double-double of the season and sixth-straight double-double in the national tournament with 17 points and a season-high 19 rebounds. It’s the fifth time in Purcell’s career that she had had a game of 18 or more rebounds. Purcell added six assists, four blocked shots and two steals.

“I think she understands what this means,” Ontjes said about Purcell. “We’ve got two games to go for a national championship and it means a lot to her. She was disappointed in last year’s finish in getting to the finals and not winning the championship. She’s put us on her back.”

LeFebvre hit 3 of 7 from 3-point range and finished with 14 points with four rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Cynthia Petke scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half. She finished with nine rebounds. Shakira Harding hit a pair of 3-pointers and had 10 points and five assists.

As for the bench players, McNair had seven critical points. Madden didn’t score, but played strong interior defense and had two blocked shots and a steal.

“Coach always gives us our chances to show up in a game,” McNair said. “It’s up to us when the opportunity comes.”

“Mandy’s peaking at the right time and those blocks helped her get some fire going,” Harding said of the bench play. “We all new she had that in her.”

The Blue Dragons were 25 of 54 shooting (46.3 percent) hitting 6 of 14 from 3-point range and 12 of 17 from the free-throw line. HCC held a 49-32 rebounding advantage and had a season-high 10 blocked shots. Turnovers were key to Northwest’s comebacks. HCC committed 25 turnovers.

“That’s been our Achilles’ heel all season is taking care of the basketball against pressure,” Ontjes said. “We struggled again today which allowed them to get back into the game. We know our strengths and we play to those strengths and we try to get over that hurdle.”

Tia Sanders scored all 14 of her points in the second half, including 10 in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half. Acey Powell had nine points and did Daniela Wallen. The Raiders shot 29.4 percent (20 of 58), hitting 6 of 24 from 3-point range and 8 of 9 from the foul line. The Raiders turned the ball over 16 times.

The first four-plus minutes of the game were fast and furious and the game was tied at 7-7 with 16:14 to go in the half. HCC went on a 9-2 run capped off by a Harding 3-pointer for a 16-9 Hutch lead with 11:29 remaining.

Holding Northwest to 7 of 30 shooting in the opening 20 minutes, HCC’s lead was only 24-18 with 3:37 to play after an Alliyah Smith bucket. HCC closed the half on an 8-0 run which was capped by two Alyx Bloom free throws with 1:34 remaining for a 32-18 lead at halftime.

Petke hit a jumper to open the second half, but the first 5 minutes of the half was anything but negative for the Blue Dragons. HCC turned the ball over six times in the first five minutes with fueled a 15-4 Raider run to pull within 36-33 with 14:55 remaining. HCC scored five in a row to push the lead back to eight, but Northwest Florida used a 10-2 run to tie the game at 43-43 with 8:36 to play.

That’s when McNair hit a momentum-changing 3-pointer and started the Blue Dragons’ 15-0 run over the next 3:37. A three-point play by Wallen with 3:15 to play pulled the Raiders within 60-50, but HCC took care of business with a 6-0 run and re-built a 16-point lead on a Bloom layup.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 5-0 in the NJCAA quarterfinals and 15-7 all-time in the NJCAA Tournament. … HCC head coach John Ontjes is 36-9 against nationally ranked teams. … HCC is 2-0 against Northwest Florida State, both meetings coming in the NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals. … HCC’s 35 wins ties the last year’s team for the third most in program history. … The 2015 sophomore class improved its record to 70-1. … This year’s Blue Dragons broke the team record for field goals (1,065), are now No. 3 in rebounds (1,643), No. 3 in assists (752) and No. 2 in blocked shots (151). … Cynthia Petke moved up to No. 7 on the single-season scoring list with 534 points. Clemence LeFebvre moved up to No. 13 in single-season scoring with 483 points. … Kalani Purcell moved up to No. 4 in career assists with 313. This was the 18th game where HCC held an opponent to less than 30 percent shooting.

(HCC Sports Information)

by Steve Carpenter (HCC Sports Information)

Held to a season-low offensive output by a stingy Georgia Highlands defense, the No. 23-ranked and sixth-seeded Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team saw its season close on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2015 NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Sports Arena.

Cinderella Georgia Highlands eliminated the Blue Dragons 64-59. The Chargers advance to Friday’s second national semifinal against No. 2 Northwest Florida State.

The Region VI champion Blue Dragons end their season at 29-7. The 29 wins tie for the seventh most wins in Blue Dragon basketball history. The 36 games played tie for the fifth most played in a season.

Hutchinson couldn’t find any answers against Georgia Highland’s defense. HCC was held 22 points under its 81.2 point-per-game average and 11 points fewer than the previous season low. HCC turned the ball over 23 times and was 19 of 30 from the free-throw line. For the first time this season, the Blue Dragons were held without a 3-point basket, the first time that’s happened in 94 games.

“Georgia Highlands is very good defensive ball club,” HCC head coach Steve Eck said. “The can really guard and they took us out of our offense and for most of the second half. They can guard without fouling and they locked us up. Give them credit.”

HCC played good enough defense to win. Normally a 43 percent shooting team for the season, the Blue Dragons held the Chargers to 30.5 percent shooting. Down the stretch, though, the Chargers had the answer to every Hutchinson challenge.

Austin Budke’s layup with 8:08 remaining tied the game at 40-40, but Highland guard Ty Toney answered with a 3-pointer on the next possession the Georgia Highlands – the No. 19th seed has knocked off No. 14 Butler, No. 3 College of Southern Idaho and No. 6 Hutchinson by a grand total of eight points in three games – a lead it never relinquished it again.

Sophomore forward DeShawn Freeman closed his Blue Dragon career with his 17th double-double of the season and 19th of his career, leading Hutchinson with 22 points and 13 rebounds on 9 of 13 shooting. Freeman finished 19th on Hutchinson’s career scoring list with 935 points.

“We fought hard as a team,” Freeman said. “We’ve been through a lot as a team.”

Freshman Bashier Ahmed was the only other Blue Dragon to reach double figures with 14 points and five rebounds. Akbar Hoffman finished with nine points and Budke closed with six points.

The Blue Dragons shot 20 of 55 (36.4 percent), going 0 of 7 from the 3-point line. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Georgia Highlands 47-37,

Montrel Goldston had 16 points to lead the Chargers (30-6). Terrence Thompson had 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Toney finished with 15 points and Doniel Dean had 11 points, going 7 of 8 from the free-throw line.

“Watching the first game of the tournament on Monday, you could tell that the tournament is called a bit differently than any other game.” Budke said. “I really like those kinds of games. They were physical. We are physical. We are two teams with big people that went at it.”

The result of Hutchinson’s first six possessions was an ominous sign as HCC had six turnovers. The Blue Dragons finally got on the board at the 14:55 mark with a Keanu Pinder dunk and took a 4-3 lead with a Freeman layup. HCC’s defense held Highlands scoreless for 6 minutes, 29 seconds, but couldn’t create any significant separation, leading only 7-3 with 13:29 to play in the half.

After one of five Pinder dunks in the first half, Freeman converted in transition on the other end to build a 21-16 lead with 4:02 remaining. That was Hutchinson’s final field goal of the first half. A Hoffman free throw with 1:21 remaining tied the game at 23, but Thompson had a tip-in right at the first-half buzzer, which was confirmed by video replay, and Highlands led 25-23 at halftime.

The 23 points scored in the first half were a Blue Dragon season low.

Four straight points by Ahmed out of the second-half chute gave Hutchinson a 27-25 lead, but Georgia Highland’s defense again didn’t allow the Blue Dragons to gain any momentum or build separation.

“We made some mistakes and we just couldn’t get a big stop,” Eck said. “We held them to 30 percent shooting. We missed 11 free throws and they missed two. You have to make your free throws.”

Trailing 31-29, Freeman had a dunk and layup 14 second apart to give HCC a 33-31 lead. The lead grew to four after two Hoffman free throws. Highlands answered with a 9-0 run over the next 3:36 to build a 40-35 lead with 9:34 remaining. Freeman converted a three-points play and Budke scored to knot the game at 40-40 with 8:08 to play.

Toney’s 3-pointer 12 seconds later gave Highlands a 43-40 lead. A Thompson score with 6:22 to go pushed the lead to two possessions and grew to seven at 54-47 with 3:34 to go after a Goldston layup. HCC got the game back to three points twice, but the Chargers made the plays down the stretch to eliminate the Blue Dragons in the quarterfinals for the first time in 10 winner’s bracket quarterfinal appearances.

“Making it to the tournament is a big accomplishment,” Budke said. “We got a win and were one of the final eight teams in. The hit some shots at the end and had the ball roll their way. If it goes our way, it’s a different game. We went out as a team and played hard.”

GAME NOTES – HCC is 41-23 in 18 NJCAA Tournament appearances. … Georgia Highlands is the 50th different opponents the Blue Dragons have played in the national tournament. … Both Keanu Pinder and Moataz Aly had five blocked shots to lead HCC’s 12 blocks in the game. … Pinder jumped up to No. 6 on the HCC single-season blocks list with 68. … The 2015 Blue Dragons’ record of blocked shots is at 239 rejections. The Dragons tie for the third most free throws in a season with 752. … This was HCC’s 11th game this season with 20 or more turnovers. … The Dragons are 22-3when out-rebounding an opponent. … The 29 wins tied the 1970, 1983, 1990, 1993 and 1995 teams for the seventh most wins in a season. … HCC’s 38.6 percent defensive field-goal percentage tied for the third lowest by a Blue Dragon team.

(HCC Sports Information)

NJCAATV Replay

by Steve Carpenter (HCC Sports Information)

HUTCHINSON (Ks) -The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team earned its first NJCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament victory since 1997 on Wednesday night, defeating No. 4 Trinity Valley 73-61 in a second-round matchup on Tuesday at a packed Hutchinson Sports Arena.

The 23rd-ranked and sixth-seeded Blue Dragons advance to the national quarterfinals for the first time since their last national championship in 1994. Hutchinson will play upstart Georgia Highlands at 8 p.m. on Thursday in the final quarterfinal matchup of the day. Georgia Highlands has dispensed both Jayhawk West champion Butler and overall tournament No. 3 seed College of Southern Idaho in its first two tournament games.

Hutchinson improves to 29-6 with its ninth-consecutive victory. The 29 wins are tied for the seventh most in Blue Dragon history with five other teams.

Wednesday was Hutchinson’s 41st tournament victory, which ties Three Rivers Community College for fifth most in tournament history.

Trailing 21-20 late in the first half, the Blue Dragons surged with a 12-3 run to build a 30-24 lead at halftime. The Dragons then limited the Cardinals (28-5) to 36.6 percent shooting in the second half and outscored Trinity Valley 43-37 in the second half.

“That was huge,” said HCC freshman Keanu Pinder about the late first-half surge. “That brought a lot of energy for our team to feed off of.”

HCC had two huge advantages in the victory. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded a bigger Trinity Valley team 50-32. The other major disparity was from the free-throw line. HCC hit 26 of 39 free throws. The Cardinals were just 3 of 7.

“We knew Trinity Valley was a really good team,” said HCC head coach Steve Eck, whose team lost to Howard College in the same round two years ago. “They had a game under their belt and we haven’t played in a week in a half. We didn’t want a repeat of two years ago and we got tougher and tougher as the game went on.”

Both DeShawn Freeman and Pinder posted double-doubles to lead the Blue Dragons, who shot 23 of 48 overall (48.9 percent). The Dragons had to overcome 22 turnovers.

Freeman had 24 points and 10 rebounds for his 16th double-double of the season. He was 7 of 9 shooting and 9 of 12 from the free-throw line. Freeman jumped up two spots on the HCC career scoring list past John Sweet and Nate Brumfield to No. 17 with 913 points. Freeman is the 18th Blue Dragon to reach the career 900-point mark.

Pinder played the best game of his Blue Dragon career by posting his second postseason double-double and fourth of the season with 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, scoring nine points in the second half. Pinder also had three assists and two blocked shots. Pinder is tied with Aaron Pettway for ninth on the single-season blocked shots list with 63.

“Keanu was big inside on defense,” Eck said of Pinder. “Offense-wise, they left the high post open and Keanu hit some shots and knocked his free throws down. We had to keep Trinity Valley off the boards and we accomplished that goal.”

Sophomore Austin Budke finished with 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting and eight rebounds. Freshman Akbar Hoffman scored all 10 of his points in the second half.

The Blue Dragons were just 1 of 9 shooting from 3-point range.

Aldonis Foote led Trinity Valley with 19 points, six rebounds and four steals. Detrick Basile, Trinity Valley’s leading scorer, had 12 points on 5 of 20 shooting, only 2 of 11 from 3-point range. Clarence Williams had 10 points.

“He is very fast and he comes off the double balls screens,” said sophomore guard Zach Winter, who had the primary defensive assignment on Basile. “We really worked hard on the posts staying with him off the screens until I got back to him. We were glad to hold him to that kind of shooting night.”

Trinity Valley shot 25 of 74 from the floor (33.8 percent), hitting 8 of 30 from distance. The Cardinals had 14 turnovers.

Despite turnovers on their first three possessions of the game, the Blue Dragons never let Trinity Valley get away from them, building a 10-4 lead on a Budke basket with 14:08 remaining in the first half. A Che Bob layup with 10:34 remaining matched that six-point lead at 14-8.

Trinity Valley put together a 13-4 run over the next 5:35 and HCC went scoreless for nearly three minutes. Trinity Valley guard Sheldon Hagigal hit a 3-pointer with 4:59 to go that game the Cardinals a 21-18 lead.

A Pinder 15-footer with 4:42 remaining in the half sparked what became a crucial run for HCC to close the first half. A Freeman drive to the hoop with 4:23 remaining helped HCC reclaim the lead at 22-21. The Dragons closed the half on a 12-3 run, taking a 30-24 lead into halftime with two Pinder free throws with 1:18 to go in the half.

HCC hit 46.2 percent from the field and limited Trinity Valley to only two 3-pointers and 30.3 percent shooting.

The Blue Dragons built their largest lead to that point when Zach Winter picked up a loose ball and scored with 18:19 remaining to give HCC a 35-26 lead. Trinity Valley picked up its full-court pressure and forced two-straight HCC turnovers, scoring four consecutive points to cut the Dragon lead to 39-35 with 14:58 remaining. HCC had only two field goals in the first nine minutes of the game.

Hutchinson’s lead was cut to 48-44 after a Basile 3-pointer with 9:22 to play. The lead was still 51-46 when HCC scored six unanswered points and took a 57-46 lead after a Hoffman steal turned into a Budke dunk with 6:06 to play.

HCC was able to maintain its double-figure lead in the final 5 minutes of the game. The lead grew to as large as 16 points in the second half at 72-56 after two Freeman free throws.

GAME NOTES – This was Hutchinson’s first NJCAA Tournament victory since defeating Wabash Valley in the consolation round of the 1997 tournament. It’s HCC’s first winner’s bracket victory since defeating Bossier Parish in the opening round of the 1994 tournament. … The Blue Dragons are now 41-22 in 18 NJCAA Tournament appearances. … Now No. 1in the NJCAA in all-time wins, this was victory No. 1,683 for HCC. … The 2015 Blue Dragons moved up to No. 4 on the team’s free-throw list with 737. … HCC upped its blocked shots record to 227. … Keanu Pinder’s 15 rebounds is the fifth times this season a Blue Dragons has had 15 or more rebounds in a game. … Trinity Valley is Hutchinson’s 49th different opponent in the NJCAA Tournament. … HCC is 3-2 vs. nationally ranked teams this season. … The Blue Dragons are 3-0 vs. ranked competition in this year’s postseason.

(HCC Sports Information)