SIZZLING START CARRIES DRAGONS TO NJCAA QUARTERS
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
The 11th-seeded Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team advanced to the NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2017 after producing one of the best starts in the Blue Dragons' 81-game tournament history on Tuesday night.
Jumping out to a 19-1 lead just 5 minutes, 49 seconds into Tuesday's second-round game against No. 6 seed Chipola, the Blue Dragons withstood a furious rally by the Indians for a 78-71 victory at the Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons snapped a three-game losing streak in the second round.
The Blue Dragons (29-6) advance to Wednesday's NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals to meet No. 19-seed Connors State (33-2) at 7 p.m. in the final game of the day.
Hutchinson got early 3-pointers from Kamryn Thomas, Landon Wagler and Kobe Smith to take an early 9-1 lead. On their way to building a 19-1 lead on another Thomas 3-pointer with 14:11 to play, the Blue Dragons made 7 of their first 10 shots, including 4 of 7 from distance, while holding Chipola to 0 for 12 shooting with four turnovers.
After building their largest lead of the game of 20 at 23-3, the Blue Dragons saw Chipola, which ousted the Blue Dragons in the second round two years ago, make several runs. The Indians pulled within 37-26 at halftime despite the Dragons' 10 3-pointers.
Leading 71-57 with 6:21 remaining, Chipola went on a 14-3 run and made it a one-possession game at 74-71 with 26 seconds to play. Valentino Simon hit two free throws with 24.5 seconds to play for a five-point lead. After a Chipola miss, the Dragons went into transition and Simon's two-handed dunk with 6 seconds to go closed the game out.
Wagler led the Blue Dragons with career highs of 20 points and 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Wagler scored 13 points in the second half.
J.P. Ricks posted his first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 10 assists. He is the first Blue Dragon to register a 10-assist game since Isaiah Bujdoso on March 15, 2021 against Dodge City.
Thomas hit four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Simon had 13 points and six boards.
The Blue Dragons hit a season-high 16 3-pointers on 34 attempts (47.1 percent). Overall Hutchinson shot 44.3 percent (27 of 61), hitting 8 of 12 from the foul line.
The Blue Dragons had their second-straight game of less than 10 turnovers with only eight turnovers on 23 assists. The Dragons were out-rebounded 52-33, including 24-9 on the offensive boards.
Joshua Williams scored 22 points to lead Chipola (29-5). A.J. Barnes closed with 20 points. Dontae Walker and Zock Littleton had 12 points each.
The Indians shot 35.6 percent overall (26 of 73), going 4 of 22 from 3-point range and 15 of 19 the foul line. They had 10 turnovers.
After jumping out to their 23-3 lead, the Blue Dragons went nearly 6 full minutes without a field goal as Chipola went on a 9-1 run to pull within 23-12 with 7:09 to play after a Walker layup. Russell Branch halted that advance with a 3-pointer and the Dragons were able to push the lead back to 17 at 31-14 when Ricks sank a 3-pointer at the 5:13 mark.
The Dragons were 10 of 22 from 3-point range in the opening half and held Chipola to 28.6 percent shooting with only 1 of 10 from distance to lead 37-26 at halftime.
After Chipola cut the Hutchinson lead to 11 early in the second half, Simon hit a jumper and Wagler added two free throws to build a 44-29 lead with 17:49 remaining. The Dragons then went on a 13-5 run, holding the Indians to just one field goal in a span of 4 minutes, when Wagler hit a turnaround 15-footer for a 49-32 lead with 14:56 to play.
Wagler hit his fourth 3-pointer to boost the Dragon lead back to 20 at 57-37 with 12:18 remaining. A Walker basket cut the lead to 58-45 with 9:51 to play. The Dragons continued to hold Chipola at arm's length with back-to-back mid-range jumpers for a 68-51 lead with 7:28 to go.
The Dragons then went the next 5 minutes with only one field goal as Chipola pulled within two possessions after a 15-6 run at 71-66. Kernan Bundy hit a 3-pointer with 2:13 to play to up the lead to eight, but the Indians scored five-straight points to pull within 74-71 with 26 seconds to play. Simon was fouled and hit two free throws with 24.5 seconds left for a two-possession lead and followed that with his transition dunk to produce the final margin.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 4-4 all-time in second-round games and 53-27 all-time in the NJCAA Tournament. … The Dragons are 209-86 all-time in postseason play. … Kobe Smith had career highs of three 3-pointers and seven rebounds. … The Dragons are now 2-2 all-time against Chipola, including 2-1 in NJCAA Tournament meetings. … This was Blue Dragon head coach Tommy DeSalme's 75 victory with the Blue Dragons. … This was all-time win No. 1,923. … J.P. Ricks reached the 200 career assist mark and moved past John Ontjes into seventh place on the Blue Dragon single-season assist list with 168.