[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]
Photo courtesy of Joel Powers, HCC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team did something against the Butler Grizzlies on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena that it hadn’t done since 1979 – reach the century mark on the scoreboard.
The No. 2-ranked Blue Dragons shot better than 54 percent and placed five players in double figures in an impressive 109-82 Jayhawk Conference victory at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons improve to 12-0 overall and maintain their first-place standing in the Jayhawk Conference at 8-0 heading into Saturday’s road trip to Barton in Great Bend. The Grizzlies fall to 7-4 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
Hutchinson hadn’t reached the 100-point mark against the rival Grizzlies dating back to a 109-60 win in 1979. That was a span of 82 games in the series that played its 185th game all-time.
The 109 points scored by the Dragons tied for the most points scored ever against the Grizzlies and it marks the second-straight game that Hutch scored at least 100 points in back-to-back Jayhawk Conference games. That’s only happened six times in Blue Dragons history and the first since 2015 against Pratt and Colby.
Freshman J.J. Rhymes scored a game-high 19 points with five rebounds and three assists to lead Hutchinson. Rhymes was 7 of 9 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Samajae Haynes-Jones and freshman Devonte Bandoo scored 17 points each. Haynes-Jones added five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Bandoo chipped in seven rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Shakur Juiston had 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots. Sophomore James Conley had 10 points, while sophomore Nikola Scekic added eight points and seven rebounds.
The Blue Dragons shot 43 of 79 from the field (54.4 percent), hitting 4 of 11 from 3-point range and 19 of 28 from the free-throw line. The Dragons owned a 48-34 rebounding advantage and had 13 turnovers.
The Grizzlies shot 39.7 percent from the floor (29 of 73), going 9 of 28 from the 3-point line and 15 of 21 from the foul line. Butler committed 20 turnovers.
Johnnathan Lindsey had 17 points, while Semej Hervey and Wil Adler added 11 points each.
The Blue Dragons went through a cold spell early in the game and saw a six-point lead at 9-3 flip to a 14-11 deficit with 13:26 remaining in the first half. After a 30-second timeout, the Dragons immediately went on a 16-2 run over the next 5 minutes, 18 seconds to take charge. Kai Mitchell’s bucket with 8:08 left gave Hutch a 27-16 lead.
After a LaJuan Hardy 3-pointer with 4:03 left in the half, cut the Dragon lead to 42-13, Hutch surged again with a 12-2 run and the lead climbed to 21 for the first time after Haynes-Jones completed a four-point play – Tiylar Cotton also had a four-point play earlier in the first half – to give Hutch a 54-33 lead with 1:35 remaining in the half.
The Dragons shot 20 of 38 from the field and forced nine Butler turnovers for 15 points in building a 56-36 lead at halftime.
The Blue Dragons kicked it into high gear early in the second half. Leading 68-46 with 15:14 remaining, the Dragons exploded with a 21-4 run over the next 5:53 and led 89-50 after a Haynes-Jones layup with 9:29 to go. The lead reached as high as 41 points at 95-54.
Hutchinson shot even better in the second half at 56.1 percent.