FIRST-HALF DRY SPELLS DOOM DRAGONS AGAINST NO. 6 COUGARS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Two extended scoring runs by the Barton Cougars in the first half, put the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team in a hole too large to climb out of Wednesday night at the Sports Arena in a key Jayhawk Conference matchup.

No. 6 Barton used runs of 12-0 and 11-0 to put the No. 14 Blue Dragons in a 22-point first-half hole and Hutchinson fell 102-80.

The Blue Dragons saw their four-game win streak snapped, falling to 14-3 overall and 9-2 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson continues its three-game homestand at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday against Garden City. The Cougars won their seventh in a row and improved to 16-1 overall and 10-1 in the KJCCC.

Guard J.P. Ricks led the Blue Dragons with a career-high 22 points, hitting 6 of 9 overall shots, including two 3-pointers. Ricks was a career-best 8 of 8 from the free-throw line. He also dished out five assists.

Dre Weathers scored 17 points with a career-high nine rebounds and three steals.

Kobe Smith came off the bench to score 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Valentino Simon had 10 points and Kamryn Thomas finished with nine points.

The Blue Dragons shot 37.9 percent (25 of 67), going 5 of 27 from 3-point range and 25 of 30 from the foul line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 43-34. Each team had 19 turnovers and 12 steals.

Barton's 102 points were an opponent season high against the Blue Dragons. The Cougars shot 53.8 percent (35 of 65) with 6 of 13 from the 3-point line and 26 of 34 from the foul line.

Keandre Kindall had 22 points to lead the Cougars. Myles Thompson had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Cooper Jackson had 14 points and Lajae Jones finished with 10 points.

The Dragons trailed early 10-4, but battled back to tie the game with six consecutive points from Smith, whose layup with 13:46 to play knotted the score.
Trailing 13-12 after a Kernan Bundy bucket, the Blue Dragons went scoreless for the next 5 minutes, 22 seconds as Barton used a 12-0 run to build a 25-12 lead after a Thompson three-point play with 7:45 to play.

Ricks hit a 3-pointer with 3:34 to go to cut the Barton lead to 31-22, but the Cougars again stung the Dragons with a quick 11-0 run in a span of 1 minute, 26 seconds to build a 42-22 lead with 2:31 to play in the half. Two Smith free throws and a Ricks jumper at the buzzer closed the gap, but the Dragons trailed 47-28 at halftime after shooting only 31.0 percent to Barton's 51.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes.

The closest Hutchinson pulled within was 16 points with 2:18 to play after a Weathers' dunk cut the deficit to 92-76. Barton put any thought of a late comeback to rest with a 9-0 run in the next 1:46.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons have lost four games in a row to Barton and are now 91-33 against the Cougars all-time. … Dre Weathers tied a career high with three steals. … This was the eighth time in series history that Hutchinson has allowed Barton to reach 100 or more points. … The Blue Dragons had their 11th game of 10 or more steals. … Barton's Keandre Kindall an opponent individual high six steals.