STEVE CARPENTER
Hutchinson Community College Sports Information
SEDALIA, Missouri – Trailing by one point with 2:04 remaining in the fourth quarter Friday night, the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball teams 17-game season-opening winning streak was in jeopardy.
The Blue Dragons then exploded for an 8-0 run over a span 61 seconds and pulled away for a 78-71 victory over the State Fair Roadrunners in the State Fair Classic at the Davis Multipurpose Center in Sedalia, Missouri.
Hutchinson (1-0) extended its season-opening win streak to 18 games. The Blue Dragons will play the NEO Golden Norse (1-0) at 3 p.m. on Saturday in their final game of the Classic. NEO defeated the Central Methodist JV 106-69 on Saturday afternoon.
The Blue Dragons led State Fair 62-51 with 9:54 to play in the second half. The Roadrunners outscored the Dragons 16-4 over the next 7:50 of the game and took a 66-65 lead with 2:04 remaining in regulation.
Freshman Kyrell Shaw answered that SFCC challenge with a 3-pointer with 1:45 remaining for a 68-66 lead. After a defensive stop, Asher Boney hit a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left to up the Dragon lead to five. Shaw then intercepted a pass and dunked in transition to complete the 8-0 run to take a 74-67 lead with 44 seconds to play.
Sophomore Bobby Cannon, the lone returning player from last season, posted his fourth career double-double to lead the Blue Dragons with 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Cannon was 10 of 15 shooting with a 3-pointer of his own to pace the Blue Dragons.
Shaw had a big Blue Dragon debut scoring 17 points with two 3-point goals, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Boney finished with 11 points and Chudier Dorar came off the bench to score 10 points. Kordell Williams added nine points for the Dragons.
Hutchinson shot 50.9 percent for the game (28 of 55), hitting 6 of 15 from 3-point range and 16 of 22 from the free-throw line. The Blue Dragons were outrebounded 34-33 and suffered through 19 turnovers.
Nate Wilder came off the bench to lead State Fair with 17 points, hitting 9 of 12 from the free-throw line. Ja’Kori Phillips had 12 points and Ibraheem Sylia had 11 points for the Roadrunners. State Fair shot 36.5 percent (23 of 63), hitting 5 of 28 from 3-point range and 20 of 26 from the free-throw line. The Roadrunners had 14 turnovers.
The Blue Dragons struggled against State Fair’s zone defense for the better part of the first half. The Dragons trailed by as many as eight points twice in the first half, the second time at 19-11 with 10:35 to play. Hutchinson chipped away at the deficit and tied the game at 27 on a Cannon floater in the lane with 5:48 left in the half. Shaw’s 3-pointer with 5:02 to go gave Hutchinson a 30-27 lead and the Dragons closed the half on a 13-9 run to lead 40-36 at halftime. The Dragons shot 55.6 percent in the opening half.
State Fair pulled with 44-42 with 16:48 left in the second half, but the Blue Dragons responded to that challenge taking a 49-42 lead on another Cannon field goal with 16:10 left in the half. The Dragons continued to surge and led 62-51 with 9:54 remaining on a Cannon dunk.
Hutchinson’s offense scored only four points over the next 7 minutes to fuel State Fair’s comeback attempt.
GAME NOTES: The Blue Dragons are now 76-19 in season openers. .. This was head coach Kyle Fisher’s 20th victory as a Blue Dragon coach. … The Dragons are 11-1 all-time against State Fair, including 3-0 in Sedalia. … This was all-time win No. 1,943. … The Blue Dragons were outscored 19-12 in points off turnovers. This was Hutchinson’s first true road season opener since the 1988-89 season opener at Western Nebraska.