by Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information
PARK CITY – Inja Butina set Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball single-season assist record on Tuesday, but her field goal with 1.3 seconds left in regulation saved the Jayhawk Conference champion Blue Dragons’ season.
Butina’s basket forced Hutchinson’s Region VI Tournament quarterfinal into overtime and then the Blue Dragons rallied from four points down in the extra session to defeat the Independence Pirates 67-63 at Hartman Arena.
The No. 12-ranked and top-seeded Blue Dragons (27-3) will play Seward County in the second semifinal at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Blue Dragons won their 16th-straight Region VI Tournament game and advanced to the semifinals for the eighth-straight season.
Hutchinson led 51-42 with 8:02 to play in the fourth quarter, but went scoreless for the next 4 minutes, 40 seconds. Independence rallied and took a 55-53 when Sarah Hajdukovich grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 20 seconds to play.
After one failed shot attempt, HCC inbounded with 6.8 seconds left. Butina got the ball from Lakin Preisner and put up a shot and spun around the rim twice before falling in to tie the game at 55 with 1.3 seconds remaining and send the game to overtime.
Indy’s Simone Costa hit a 3-pointer with 3:23 to go in overtime to give the Pirates a 60-56 lead. The Blue Dragons answered and pulled within one point when Taylor Stahly drilled her only 3-pointer of the game. After a defensive stop, Stahly scored in transition to give Hutch a 61-60 lead with 2:34 to play. After falling behind by four points, HCC outscored Independence 11-3 in overtime.
Butina led the Blue Dragons with her fourth double-double of the season. She had 26 points and 10 assists, the sixth time this season that Butina has reached 10 assists in a game. Butina moved past Chrisstasia Walter for HCC’s single-season assists record. Butina now has 217 assists this season. Butina added five rebounds and three assists.
Kirea Rogers posted her third-straight double-double and ninth of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. She also blocked three shots and had two steals.
Stahly added 11 points and four rebounds. Shayla DeGarmo hit two huge 3-pointers in the third quarter and finished with eight points. She also came up with a huge defensive effort holding Indy’s Costa to three points in the final quarter and overtime.
The Blue Dragons were 24 of 58 shooting overall (24 of 58), including 4 of 17 from 3-point range and 15 of 21 from the free-throw line. HCC turned the ball over 10 times and was outrebounded 42-35, giving up 13 offensive rebounds that the Pirates scored 10 points on.
Briana Jackson-Brewer led Independence (22-9) with 20 points and six rebounds. Costa hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 16 points. Elina Berzina had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Pirates shot 36.4 percent (24 of 66) overall, 3 of 15 from 3-point range and 12 of 15 from the free-throw line. The Pirates turned the ball over 12 times.
Hutchinson jumped out to early leads of 8-0 and 10-2, but went scoreless for 6 full minutes before Butina scored with 15 seconds left in the opening quarter to tie the game at 12. In the second quarter, Butina hit a 3-pointer and then knocked down a pair of free throws to give Hutch a 24-19 lead with 3:41 to go in the second quarter. Independence pulled within one with 29 seconds left, but Rogers knocked down a 15-footer with 2 seconds to go to give the Dragons a 29-26 halftime lead.
DeGarmo came up big in the third quarter. Her first 3-pointer with 8:12 remaining in the period doubled HCC’s lead from three to 34-28. Then with Independence showing signs of grabbing momentum, DeGarmo nailed another 3-pointer to lead 43-35 with 3 minutes to play in the third quarter. Hutchinson led 47-39 after three quarters.
A Stahly layup with 8:04 remaining in regulation gave Hutchinson a 51-42 lead. Jackson Brewer scored the final eight of a 9-0 Indy run that tied the game at 51-all with 3:50 to go. Butina hit two free throws with 3:22 to play, but Hajdukovich tied the game and gave Indy a 55-53 lead with 20 seconds to play.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 54-32 all-time in the Region VI Tournament, 13-17 in the quarterfinal round and 9-5 vs. Independence in tournament games. … HCC is now 29-11 overall against Independence in series history and has won 11 straight games against the Pirates. … HCC head coach John Ontjes is now 24-4 in Region VI games and 3-4 in overtime games. … HCC played only its second overtime game in Region VI Tournament play, the first since 1994. … Kirea Rogers moved up to No. 9 on HCC’s freshman scoring list (455 points), No. 10 on the freshman rebounding list (245 rebounds) and No. 2on the freshman list and No. 8 on the season blocked shots list (42 blocks). … The 27 wins tie the 2002 Blue Dragons for seventh most in team history.
(HCC Sports Information)
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