The final game at the Hutchinson Sports Arena for the 2013 Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball sophomores took on several different meanings Tuesday night.
First, and foremost, the No. 3-ranked Lady Dragons advanced in the Region VI Tournament with a 67-52 quarterfinal victory over Jayhawk West rival Seward County. The Lady Dragons extended the program’s record home-court winning streak to 81 games.
In the process, the 2013 sophomores became the program’s winningest class ever by posting their 67th victory as Hutchinson players. This group – two-year sophomores Jasmine Patterson, Aja Sorrells, Jade Herl and Kyrsten Crawford and transfer sophomores Chrisstasia Walter and Stacey Mgbike – passed the 2012 sophomore class for the most victories in the 39-year history of the program.
Hutchinson (31-1) will now meet Butler for the third time this season in Friday’s first Region VI semifinal at 1:30 p.m. at Hartman Arena in Park City. It is HCC’s fifth-straight semifinal regional tournament appearance.
The Lady Dragons never trailed in the game, but were never out of harm’s way for the first 30 minutes.
HCC led 37-27 at halftime and led by as many as 13 in the early stages of the second half. Seward County – which lost to Hutch by 28 in January and by 28 again just six days ago in Liberal – cut the deficit to seven at 47-40 with 12:54 remaining in the game.
Just like that game six days ago – Hutch led by five points at the 10-minute mark of the second half then – the Lady Dragons again exploded in the final 10 minutes of Tuesday’s game. The Lady Dragons finally opened a comfortable margin with a 16-4 run over a span of 8 minutes, 38 seconds. Jamie Patrick’s 3-pointer with 4:16 to play gave the Lady Dragons their largest lead at 63-44.
Patterson posted her fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and a career- and season-team-high 14 rebounds. Patterson had six offensive rebounds, part of HCC’s 24 total offensive boards.
Patrick finished with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Walter added 11 points and five assists. She surpassed Ellengton Spears (1991) as HCC’s single-season assist leader with 195. Walter extended her single-season steals record with three more on Tuesday to 120 steals.
Hutchinson shot 24 of 67 for the game (35.8 percent), hitting 4 of 11 from 3-point range and 15 of 21 from the free-throw line. HCC out-rebounded Seward County 49-32 and 24-9 on the offensive glass. The Lady Dragons did commit 17 turnovers.
Madison McLain hit three 3-pointers and nearly had a double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds. Shanise Brooks had 10 points, eight rebounds and an individual HCC opponent-high five blocked shots.
The Saints (20-11) were 34.6 percent from the field overall (18 of 52), including an opponent-high seven 3-pointers on 19 attempts. Seward County was 9 of 11 from the line. The Saints did block an opponent-high six blocked shots, but turned the ball over 22 times.
Seward County had the game tied only once and that came at 2-2. Walter drilled one of her two 3-pointers as part of a quick offensive start. She had eight points in the first 3 1/2 minutes to dive HCC a 12-6 lead with 16:45 to play. Walter’s second trey started a 7-0 run that saw the Lady Dragons build a 16-6 lead with 15:51 remaining.
The Lady Dragons then went 5 minutes, 58 seconds without a field goal, but the closest Seward County could get to was five points at 18-13 with 12:34 remaining. Sorrells scored inside to push the Lady Dragon advantage back to nine at 26-17 with 8:10 remaining. Seward County used an 8-1 run to pull within 27-25 with 6:13 remaining after a Brooks field goal.
HCC answered the challenge as Crawford came off the bench to drill a momentum-changing 3-pointer. The Lady Dragons then held Seward County to just two free throws in the final 5 minutes, including no points in the final 3:48 to out-score the Saints 10-2. Patterson’s putback of her own miss at the buzzer gave the Lady Dragons a 37-27 halftime lead.
Leading 47-35 with 14:45 to play, the Lady Dragons went through another mini-scoring drought. A Brooks’ hoop with 12:54 to go pulled the Saints within seven at 47-40. Freshman Kiarra Jones answered on the other end with a three-point play, but McLain matched that with a 3-pointer with 9:23 to go cutting HCC’s lead back to 54-44.
The Lady Dragons then went on a 9-0 run over the next 5:07 of the game. Patrick canned a high-arching 3-pointer to give Hutchinson a 63-44 lead with 4:16 to play.
GAME NOTES – HCC is 44-32 all-time in the Region VI Tournament. The Lady Dragons are 10-17 in quarterfinal games, but have won five in a row in this round. … HCC is 4-2 vs. Seward County in the Region VI Tournament. … HCC’s 31st victory ties the 2008-09 Region VI champion Lady Dragons for the second-most wins in a season. … HCC extended its home-court winning streak to 81 games. … HCC head coach John Ontjes is 15-3 in the Region VI Tournament. … The Lady Dragons won their ninth in a row against Seward County to tie the all-time series at 39-39. … Jen’Von’Ta Hill tied Deni Bickel for fifth on the freshman assist list with 127. … The 2013 Lady Dragons now rank fourth in total points in program history (2,466), fourth in total field goals (936) and seventh in total rebounds (1,782). … HCC held its 96th-straight opponent to less than 50 percent shooting. … Jasmine Patterson has five career double-doubles. … This was Patterson’s third 20-point game this season.
(HCC Sports Information)