Blue Dragon men race past Dodge City

Photo by Nathan Addis/HutchCC Sports Information: HutchCC’s Majok Kuath goes in for a dunk during the first half of a Jayhawk West game against Dodge City.

By Bailey Pennycuff / Co-Sports Editor

After facing some heartbreaking losses, the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team earned a big win at the Sports Arena on Wednesday.

The Blue Dragons defeated the Dodge City Conquistadors 92-75. Throughout the game, Hutch never lost its lead once they scored their first point.

The Blue Dragons started off well – not even 10 points into the game, freshman forward Majok Kuath saw the opportunity to penetrate Dodge City’s defense with a slam dunk, and he executed.

Although Hutch had the lead all throughout the first half, the second half is when the Blue Dragons truly portrayed their offensive talent.

Both teams displayed minor errors, however, one key factor could have been honed by the Blue Dragons.

“The second half was a lot better offensively, but we definitely need to rebound more – we have to get better, much better,” HutchCC coach Steve Eck said.

Of Hutchinson’s 92 points, they were all spread out. Freshman guard Clarence King had 12 points, sophomore guard Saquan Singleton and freshman guard Josh Baker each had 16 points, and Kuath had 19 points.

Due to the total of 20 points from fastbreaks, the Blue Dragons got to spend more time playing defense than offense. They kept the pace of the game going quickly, and they seemed to feed off of the rising intensity.

“When we get points off fastbreaks, I think it gives us all a boost of confidence,” King said. “We get pretty hype to the easy points like that, and thanks to our defense, we get a lot of them.”

Early in the game, sophomore guard D.J. Mitchell was injured. With only six minutes elapsed, Mitchell was taken out of the game and would not return. He was later diagnosed with a concussion and will most likely have to sit out the next game, possibly the next couple of games.

Mitchell is one of the leading scorers at 14 points a game, a large part of the team. However, his absence did not seem to stun the Blue Dragon’s ambition to defeat Dodge.

“When something like that happens, it’s just the next man up. Clarence did a good job stepping in and doing his job,” Eck said.

The win against Dodge City was well-fought for after having five members of the teams battling the flu.

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