[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

GOODLAND, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team trails at Northwest Tech by four points with 6:10 to play in the second half on Monday night.

The Blue Dragons finished strong with a 17-6 run down the stretch and earned a tough 85-78 victory over the snake-bitten Mavericks on Monday night at Max Jones Fieldhouse.

Hutchinson improves to 15-2 overall and 6-2 in the Jayhawk West as head coach Steve Eck – it was announced earlier on Monday that he was going to the a 2019 NJCAA Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee – moved within three victories of 600 in his career. Northwest Tech dropped its seventh in a row to fall to 9-8 and 1-7 in league play.

The Blue Dragons led by as many as 11 points in the first half before carrying a 40-35 lead into halftime. The Blue Dragons trailed by as many as six points three times in the second half and were down 72-68 with 6:10 to play after Northwest’s Ebon Jay converted a three-point play.

Malique Jacobs answered with a 2-point field goal and a 3-pointer to give Hutch a 73-72 lead 5:26 to go. Brandon Conwright answered back with a 3-pointer to give the Mavericks a 75-73 lead. But Dragons countered with three-straight scoring possessions. Saquan Singleton scored to tie the game, and then Chris Giles buried a huge 3-pointer to give the Dragons the league for good. Jacobs then scored with 3:12 left for an 80-75 lead as Hutch outscored Tech 12-3 in the final 4 minutes, 32 seconds.

Sophomore Rheaquone Taylor scored 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting to lead three Blue Dragons in double figures. He added six rebounds.

Freshman D.J. Mitchell scored 22 points with four assists. Jacobs came off the bench to score 16 points. Singleton had nine points and four assists. Giles finished with nine points, including two huge 3-point goals.

The Blue Dragons shot 50 percent for the game (32 of 64), including 16 of 30 from the field in the second half. The Dragons knocked down 7 of 17 from 3-point range and 14 of 23 from the foul line.

Hutchinson was out-rebounded for the sixth time this season, 39-38. Hutch had 18 assists and 13 turnovers.

Chris Freeman scored 24 points on 8 of 21 shooting to lead Northwest Tech. Jay had 12 points, Miles Gibson had 11 and Conwright had 10.

Northwest Tech was 28 of 67 shooting (41.8 percent), going 5 of 24 from 3-point range and 17 of 24 from the foul line. The Mavericks had 14 turnovers.

Hutchinson will play for the third time in six games on Wednesday when Garden City comes to the Sports Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

Coach Eck talked about the team’s perseverance in Monday night’s game:

 

GAME NOTES – Hutchinson is now 4-0 all-time against Northwest Tech. This was all-time Hutchinson win No. 1,795. Hutchinson is now 4-2 in road games this season. The Blue Dragons are 4-2 when out-rebounded this season. The Dragons shot 50 percent or better for the seventh time this season. Five different Blue Dragons recorded at least one blocked shot.

GOODLAND, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons defeated the Northwest Kansas Technical College Mavericks in a landslide of 107-51 on Monday night.

The Blue Dragons scored over 20 points each quarter to gain their big advantage as the Mavericks only scored in the teens throughout each quarter.

Toward the end of the first quarter, Hutchinson went on a 14-0 run to extend its lead to 28-17.

The Blue Dragons had double the score of the Mavericks at halftime leading 53-25.

Hutchinson maintained control in the second half to finish off Northwest Tech 107-51.

Dejanae Roebuck was the top scorer for Hutchinson with 21.

Tijuana Kimbro had the next highest score with 14 points. Almost half of those were freethrows while the rest were field goal shots.

Hutchinson faces Garden City at home on Wednesday, 16, at 5:30 p.m.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ BLUE DRAGON SPORTS INFORMATION ]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Freshman Saquan Singleton scored 21 points in the second half to help the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team’s first home game in 34 days turn into a victory.

Singleton’s 21 points were a career high as the No. 12-ranked Blue Dragons defeated the Cowley Tigers 85-76 on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons improved to 14-2 overall and 5-2 in the Jayhawk West. Hutchinson travels to Northwest Kansas Tech at 8:30 p.m. on Monday in Goodland. Cowley falls to 11-7 overall and 3-5 in the Jayhawk East.

After playing only 3 minutes in the first half before sitting with two fouls, Singleton didn’t take long to get going in the second half. Two free throws at the 18:39 mark of the second half started a run of 17-straight points scored by Singleton over a stretch of 4 minutes, 50 seconds. At the end of Singleton’s personal onslaught, the Blue Dragons led 57-48.

Singleton was 7 of 10 shooting and were a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line. His seven field goals were also a career high and Singleton finished with eight rebounds.

Sophomore Rheaquone Taylor had his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds with four assists and two steals.

Sophomore Chris Giles finished with 19 points with a pair of 3-pointers and 7 of 8 from the foul line. Malique Jacobs had 11 points and a career-high seven rebounds.

Hutchinson finished shooting 41.8 percent (28 of 67), hitting 3 of 8 from the 3-point line and 26 of 30 from the free-throw line. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Cowley 46-41 and had only 12 turnovers.

The Blue Dragons shot only 38.5 percent in the first half, going 6 of 9 from the free-throw line to lead only 38-37 at halftime. Hutch improved to 46.4 percent shooting and went 20 of 21 from the free-throw line as the Blue Dragons outscored Cowley 47-39 in the second half.

Darius Harrison posted a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead to lead the Tigers. Brenden Van Dyke had 14 points and Deng Bol had 13. Cowley was 30 of 73 shooting (41.1 percent), going 5 of 18 from 3-point range and 11 of 19 from the foul line.

There were six early lead changes and one tie in the first half. The Dragons had a five-point lead with 13:02 to play, but the Tigers scored five unanswered to tie the game at 14 with 11:39 to go.

Fred Odhiambo hit a short jumper in the lane to start a 15-4 Blue Dragon run. Hutch scored second in a row with a Boubacar Kamissoko 3-pointer, Jacobs jumper and a Kamissoko tip in boosted the Dragons to an 11-point lead at 29-18 with 7:34 remaining in the first half.

Two Deng free throws cut the Dragon lead to 29-26 with 4:31 to play. Taylor countered with a pair of free throws to give the Dragons a 34-26 lead with 3:37 to go. The Tigers finished the half on an 11-4 run as Hutchinson led 38-37 at halftime.

Singleton carried the Blue Dragons early in the second half. A 42.9 percent free-throw shooter for the season, Singleton hit all seven of his free throws. His 3-point play with 15:44 to go gave the Dragons a 51-44 lead. Singleton’s personal run ended with a bucket in the paint that gave the Dragons a 57-48 lead.

Two Giles free throws bumped the Dragon lead to 61-50 with 12:30 remaining. Cowley’s 8-2 run cut the Hutch lead to 63-58 with 10:07 left after a Karl Drammeh score,

Hutch pushed is lead to double figures three more times, building a 79-67 lead after a Giles 3-pointer with 3:31 to go. Cowley never pulled any closer than seven points the rest of the way.

GAME NOTES – Saturday’s win was the 596th all-time junior college victory for Hutchison head coach Steve Eck. It was his 414th with as a Jayhawk Conference coach. The Blue Dragons earned all-time win No. 1,794. This was Rheaquone Taylor‘s third career double-double. Fred Odhiambo tied his career high for blocked shots with four for the third time this season.

Coach Eck commented on the pressure that Cowley presented:

 

Hutchinson Community College plays a conference game at Northwest Kansas Technical College on Monday, 14, at 8:30 p.m.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Trinity High School Celtics beat the Marion High School Warriors 74-46 in Friday’s game.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle, but Trinity quickly took hold of the lead and went into the break with a 28-23 advantage.

The Celtics extended their lead when Kaleb Hammeke nailed a three-pointer with less than a minute left in the third. Trinity took a 53-37 lead into the fourth.

Hammeke was one of the top scorers. He added two more three-pointers and a steal with a successful layup to distance Trinity.

The Celtics finished off the Warriors 74-46.

Trinity travels to play Sterling in a tournament starting Monday, Jan. 14.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson High School Salthawks were defeated by the Central High School Mustangs 63-42 in Friday night’s game.

Hutchinson’s Weston Kraus made the first shot of the game with 6 minutes left in the first quarter. The Salthawks ended the quarter only a couple of points behind the Mustangs at 13-8.

Hutchinson pushed harder in the second half and ended up leading 26-24 at halftime.

Central caught fire from distance the rest of the game. The Mustangs racked up 11 three-pointers.

The Salthawks fell quickly in the second half and gave up a lot of offensive rebounds.

Coach Webster talked about the game’s statistics:

 

Hutchinson High travels to face Buhler High in a three-day tournament starting Thursday, Jan. 17, at 7 p.m.