Lady Dragons 5th-straight conference title

By Bailey Terry

The Lady Dragon basketball team played their last regular season game on Feb. 25 against the Saints of Seward County and won 73-51.

They will enter the Region VI tournament with a record of 30-0 overall and 16-0 in the Jayhawk West.

This win continues the Dragons 117-game win streak at the Sports Arena.

Kalani Purcell, Hamilton, New Zealand, led the Dragons with 19 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.

Shakira Harding, Houma, Fla., had eight points, while Alyx Bloom, Clay Center, scored eight.

Cynthia Petke, Yaounde, Cameroon, scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Clemence LeFebvre, St. Martin, France, scored 10 points.

The Dragons shot 27 for 60 overall and outrebounded their opponents 45-31.

The first minutes of the game, the Dragons started to build their lead, 19-7 after an 11-0 run.

That Saints weren’t going away that easily in the first half. The score at halftime was 41-31.

With just over seven minutes to go in the game, the Dragons continued to build their lead, 68-37.

Hutch ended the game ahead by 22 points, 73-51.

Hutch never let the Saints ahead of them the whole game.

The Dragons took their fifth-consecutive Jayhawk West Title by beating the Cloud County Thunderbirds 78-48 on Feb. 21.

In her final regular season game as a Dragon, Purcell had her 20th double-double of the season and 38th overall, with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

She also had seven steals, six assists, and two blocks.

Petke also had a double-double, her 14th of the season.

She had 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.

She tied a season-high of five assists, had two blocks and two steals.

LeFebvre and Taylor Jones, Collierville, Tenn., had 10 points apiece, while Harding had eight points.

The Dragons went 31 for 65 of total shots, six for 16 from beyond the arc, and 10 of 11 free throws.

Hutch held the rebounding advantage, 49-29.

Their biggest lead was 33 points.

To start the game, the Dragons had a lead of 10-2 with 14 minutes remaining in the half.

Hutch held the lead, 27-6 with a little under nine minutes remaining in the half. The Dragons led 33-13 and then went on a 14-8 run to close the half.

The Dragons held the lead at halftime with 47-21.

Throughout the second half, the Dragons outscored the Thunderbirds 31-27.

The Dragons won the game 78-48.

The Dragons will get a bye in the first round of the Region VI tournament.

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