BLUE DRAGONS DROP CONFERENCE OPENER TO BUSTERS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Sophomore guard Lolo Rudolph posted his first career double-double while Kyrell Shaw and Bobby Cannon both reached the 20-point plateau, but the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team couldn't hold off the high-scoring Garden City Broncbusters on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons dropped the 2025-26 KJCCC opener, falling 84-76 to Garden City, the second-highest scoring team in the nation.

The Blue Dragons are now 5-2 overall and 0-1 in the KJCCC. Hutchinson travels to meet the Butler Grizzlies at 4 p.m. on Saturday in El Dorado. Garden City is now 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the league.

Hutchinson trailed 38-34 at halftime, but finally got over the hump in the second half. A 12-3 run helped the Dragons take a 54-46 lead after a Kordell Williams basket with 12:01 to go in the game. Garden City answered that run with an 11-0 run over the next 2 1/2 minutes and took a 57-54 lead. The Dragons then scored six unanswered points to lead 60-57 after a Rudolph layup with 8:36 to go.

From that point, the Dragons had just two field goals as Garden City outscored Hutchinson 27-16 over the remainder of the game.

Rudolph's first career double-double was 10 points and a career-best 11 assists. He is the first Blue Dragon to dish out 10 or more rebounds since D.J. Dudley had 10 assists last season against Cloud County on February 14, 2025.

Shaw scored a team-high 21 points with seven rebounds to lead the Blue Dragons. Cannon scored 20 points with eight rebounds. Sophomore Asher Boney had 13 points.

The Blue Dragons shot 44.2 percent for the game (23 of 52), hitting 4 of 17 from 3-point range and had season highs of 26 free throws and 38 attempts.

The Dragons out-rebounded Garden City 45-39, including a career-high 10 by Williams. The Dragons were hampered by 20 turnovers.

Garden City shot 39.2 percent (31 of 79), going 8 of 36 from 3-point range and 14 of 19 from the foul line. The Dragons held the Broncbusters 29 points under their season scoring average.

Jordan Nevill scored a game-high 26 points, netting 18 points in the second half. Zaire Lott had 15 points and Xavier Johnson had 10 points.

Shaw's bucket with 15:28 to go in the opening half gave the Blue Dragons an 11-6 lead. Garden City countered with an 11-2 run to lead 17-13 with 11:49 left in the opening half.

A 6-0 run by Shaw gave the Dragons a 19-17 lad with 9:49 to go, but Garden City fought back to take a 30-25 lead with 5:35 left in the half. The Dragons trailed 38-32, but two Boney free throws with 0.3 seconds to play in the half sent Hutchinson into halftime trailing 38-34.

Trailing 43-42, the Dragon had their best offensive surge of the game. Cannon scored after an offensive rebounds for a 44-43 lead with 16:31 to play. Rudolph's layup with 15:36 to go upped the Hutchinson lead to 48-43. Then Williams' steal and layup with 12:01 to go gave the Blue Dragons their largest lead of eight at 54-46 with 12:01 to go.

Nevill then started his second-half barrage with a 3-pointer that sparked Garden's 11-0 run, which gave the Busters a 57-54 lead with 9:32 remaining in the game.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 145-53 all-time vs. Garden City … The Busters snapped a five-game losing streak in the Sports Arena to the Blue Dragons, last winning in 2022. … Kyrell Shaw reached the career 350-point mark with his seasons at Hutchinson and Maryland-Eastern Shore. … The Dragons were outscored 27-11 in points off turnovers. … The game featured 17 lead changes and nine ties.