Team works around Ogle’s injury

Photo by Bre Rogers/Collegian: Sophomore Abby Ogle looks for an outlet pass on transition to offense. The Blue Dragons faced Barton earlier this season at the Sports Arena

By Adam Kolb / Co-Sports Editor

The Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team is having an excellent year, and a lot of that success is thanks to sophomore guard Abby Ogle.

Ogle is averaging 16.3 points, which is good for third in the Jayhawk Conference, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting a solid 42.3% from behind the three-point line, which is the best in the Jayhawk Conference. An ankle injury has forced Ogle to miss the last two games for the Blue Dragons. Her absence was felt in the game Feb. 12 at Dodge City, a game where she was injured in the first couple minutes, and where the Blue Dragons would lose, breaking a 10-game winning streak.

With Ogle sitting out for the foreseeable future, the Blue Dragons will be missing her tenacity on the court, and her ability to put the ball in the hoop.

“We miss a lot of scoring without her,” Blue Dragons coach John Ontjes said. “She’s had a great year.”

The process of getting back to full health is coming along, and Ogle is keeping a positive mindset.

“It’s getting better,” Ogle said of her ankle injury. “I’ve been to lots of therapy.”

Ogle, a native of Baldwin City, has been valuable for the team this year and has been beneficial for the team when she’s on the attack.

“I do best when I go to the lane,” Ogle said.

It’s that type of aggressiveness that Ontjes said the Blue Dragons would miss in the games to come. However, in the first full game that Ogle missed, the Blue Dragons got a boost from other players, such as Brooklyn Betham, who finished with 24 points in the win against Colby. The Blue Dragons will want this type of production from its players with Ogle nursing her ankle injury. However, her coach wants her on the court as soon as possible.

“She’s a major factor to our team,” Ontjes said. “We need to get her back on the court.”

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