Blue Dragon women rout Pratt, earn win No. 1,000

By Bailey Pennycuff / Co-Sports Editor

History was made at the Sports Arena on Monday night as the the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team defeated Pratt for the program’s 1,000th win.

Despite the absence of sophomore guard Makayla Vannett, the Blue Dragons earned a 75-41 win over the Beavers, who had just defeated second-place Seward County.

“I stepped up, scoring-wise – since Makayla was gone, we needed the extra points. We all had to step it up defensively without her,” sophomore guard Abby Ogle said.

The Blue Dragon offense worked smoothly and efficiently against Pratt’s defense.

“We did a pretty good job of sharing the basketball and we executed reading where the basketball needed to go,” coach John Ontjes said. “I thought we did a good job of finishing plays.”

Ogle had the high-scoring game, as she was two points shy of her career high of 29 points, finishing with 27.

“Going into every game, I just focus on working hard every play and pushing myself,” Ogle said.

Although the historical win was a morale boost, certain aspects of the Blue Dragons’ game could always improve.

“We definitely needed to box-out more and get rebounds. (Pratt) got a lot of offensive rebounds,” Ogle said.

The pace of the game sped up as the time went on, however, the Blue Dragons didn’t mind the change of pace. In fact, they seemed to be controlling it.

“I think our ball club was definitely efficient offensively, but also, we got stronger defensively as the game went on and sped up,” Ontjes said.

With only four games remaining until the end of the regular season, the 2020 Region 6 Tournament is creeping up on the schedule.

“We’re not even thinking about the Region 6 tournament right now, we need to stay focused on these tough games we have ahead of us,” Ontjes said.

Hutch will travel to Dodge City on Wednesday in hopes of a 1,001st win.

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