STEVE CARPENTER - Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Three games ago, thoughts of a Jayhawk Conference Western Division championship were shaky at best for the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team.
Injuries to its top two scorers and an upset loss to Dodge City on February 22 put plenty of doubt in the minds of the Blue Dragons. But resiliency has been a trademark of the 2019-20 Blue Dragons, and it showed again Saturday night in a winner-take-all battle for the conference title with Seward County.
The Blue Dragons continued their torrid shooting from long range and shut out Seward County from behind the arc for better than three quarters as No. 12 Hutchinson defeated the No. 18 Saints 78-62 at the Sports Arena.
The 27-3 Blue Dragons win their first Jayhawk West crown since 2017 and 10th conference title overall, the sixth under head coach John Ontjes. Hutchinson went 19-2 in conference play. The Blue Dragons earn an opening-round bye for the Region VI Tournament, which begins Wednesday. The Blue Dragons will begin play in the tournament quarterfinals next Saturday with opponents and times to be released for the tournament on Sunday. Seward County falls to 23-6 and 18-3.
For the second-straight game, the Blue Dragons dominated the opening quarter with the Saints and opening a 19-10 lead after 10 minutes. In Hutchins's 72-70 win over the Saints on Feb. 1 in Liberal, the Dragons led 20-5 after one quarter only to have the Saints outscore Hutch the rest of the way. Abby Ogle hit a game-winning shot with 2.7 seconds to play.
There was no need for the Blue Dragons to need any late-game heroics on Saturday.
Nailing six first-half 3-pointers, three from Tor'e Alford, the Blue Dragons extended that first-quarter lead into a stunning 38-21 advantage at halftime. The closest Seward County got in the second half was the final 16-point margin.
Hutchinson hit 10 of 28 3-point goals in the game, while Seward County missed from distance on its first 15 attempts, not hitting a 3-pointer until early in the fourth quarter. The Saints were 2 of 17 from 3-point range for the game.
Alford finished with a game-high 19 points, hitting 5 of 11 from 3-point range. She had four more 3-pointers in the second half. Over her last two games, Alford has hit 12 of 18 from distance. Alford added five rebounds. Sophomore Makayla Vannett had three 3-pointers, while Ogle and Sasha Francis also hit 3-point goals.
Ogle scored 15 points and flirted with a triple-double. Ogle added nine rebounds and seven assists. Ogle moved into 10th place on the Blue Dragon career Top 10 in assists with 233.
Brooklyn Betham had her double-double streak stopped at three, but she was an offensive force inside, hitting 7 of 9 attempts to finish with 14 points and six rebounds. Vannett and Francis had nine points each and sophomore Gelecia Cooper chipped in seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Blue Dragons shot 49.2 percent for the game (29 of 59, going 10 of 15 from the foul line. The Dragons out-rebounded Seward County 43-31.
Tianna Johnson and Leilani Augmon had 17 points each to lead Seward County. Destiny Alston had 10 points. The Saints were 23 of 63 shooting overall and 14 of 22 from the free-throw line.
An Alford 3-pointer with 5:48 remaining in the opening quarter gave Hutchinson a 12-2 lead. The Saints then scored eight of the game's next nine points to pull within 13-10 with 2:20 to play. Vannett and Francis then nailed 3-pointers to close the half as Seward County missed its final four shots of the quarter and Hutch led 19-10 after one period.
Another Alford 3-pointer gave the Blue Dragons a 30-17 lead with 5:59 to play in the second quarter. The Saints scored the next four points to pull within nine, but another Alford trey pushed the lead back to double figure at 33-21 and the lead never went under double figures again. Hutchinson held the Saints scoreless for the final 4:48 of the period and took a 38-21 lead at halftime.
The Dragons scored the final five points of the second quarter and first four of the third to lead 42-21 after a Betham putback with 8:51 to play in the third period. An Ogle layup, Lauryn Mapusua inside hoop and Alford 3-pointer gave Hutchinson a staggering 54-28 lead with 3:31 to play in the third. The Saints started to create some turnovers and get to the free-throw line. The Saints outscored the Dragons 22-19 in the fourth quarter.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 46-48 all-time against Seward County, including 25-19 in Hutchinson. … This was all-time win No. 1,003 in Blue Dragon history. … Abby Ogle moved past Dina Lock (1988) into fourth on the Blue Dragons single-season steals list with 106. … The Blue Dragons are now 2-1 against nationally-ranked opponents this season. … This was Hutch's seventh game this season with 10 or more 3-pointers in a game. … The Dragons went 15-0 at the Sports Arena this year. … Hutch held its 27th opponent to less than 40 percent shooting. … Gelecia Cooper had her fourth game rebounding in double figures. She has 22 rebounds in her last two games. … The 2019-20 Blue Dragons moved into third place in team history with 241 3-pointers.