DRAGONS ADVANCE TO REGION 6 SEMIFINALS, TOP COLBY

Jada Pleasant defends a Colby shot in the No. 2-seeded Blue Dragon women's basketball team's 59-49 Region 6 Tournament quarterfinal win on Tuesday at the Sports Arena. (Andrew Carpenter/Digital Fox Photography)

March 11, 2025

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The No. 2-seed and No. 7-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team survived a cold shooting start to the game to advance to the semifinals of the 2025 Region 6 Tournament on Tuesday night.

Shooting a frigid 22.2 percent in the opening half and trailing Colby by three points at halftime, the Blue Dragons shot almost 44 percent in the final two quarters to secure a 59-49 victory over the Trojans in Tuesday's quarterfinal round at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons (28-3) will now play No. 3-seed Coffeyville in Friday's Region 6 semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.

Hutchinson completed an undefeated home season at 17-0 and the Blue Dragons extended their home-court winning streak to 33 games.

Hailey Jackson led the Blue Dragons with 17 points and eight rebounds. She scored 14 points in the second half. Jackson moved into sixth place on the Blue Dragon single season scoring list with 581 points.

Jada Pleasant scored 11 points with three rebounds and Katie Duncan came off the bench to score 11 points, hitting three 3-point goals. Duncan added four assists.

The Blue Dragons finished the game shooting 32.4 percent (22 of 68), going 4 of 30 from distance – the Dragons started 1 of 25 from the 3-point line – and was 11 of 13 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Colby 35-33 – Jackson and Kahlen Norris had eight rebounds each – and the Dragons had 10 turnovers.

Ishante Suttington had 21 points to lead Colby. Easha Potts had 11 points.

The Trojans shot 35.9 percent (14 of 39), hitting 3 of 13 from 3-point range and 18 of 27 from the free-throw line.

The Dragons opened hitting only 3 of 18 shots in the first quarter and scored a season-low six points in the period to trail 9-6 after one quarter. The Dragons trailed 23-20 at halftime.

The Blue Dragons trailed 27-20 with 8:21 to play in the third quarter and 36-31 with 1:41 to play in the period. The Blue Dragons rallied with a 6-0 run to close the quarter. Duncan drove the left baseline and scored just before the buzzer to give the Dragons a 37-36 lead.

Colby scored the first points of the fourth quarter and the Blue Dragons answered with an 11-0 run to take charge and led 50-39 after a Jackson jump shot with 5:47 to play. The Dragons extended that run to 22-2 and led 59-41 after a Pleasant field goal.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons advance to the Region 6 semifinal round for the 16th time under head coach John Ontjes. … The Blue Dragons are now 22-17 in the quarterfinal round and 70-38 all-time in Region 6.