Roundup: Women’s basketball builds on a solid season

By Collegian Staff

Ishante Suttington sank a tie-breaking free throw with 0.7 seconds remaining in the game to give the No. 16-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk West on Monday night in Liberal.

Suttington’s free throw capped a big game for her and a come-from-behind Jayhawk West road win for Hutchinson at the Green House. Trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, the Blue Dragons rallied for 73-72 victory over Seward County.

Suttington finished with 14 points and tied a season high with seven rebounds. This was Suttington’s second go-ahead score in the final minute of a Blue Dragon win this season. Suttington scored with 36 seconds left at Northwest Kansas Tech on Feb. 24 in a 69-63 win over the Mavericks.

Nafatoumata Haidara also had 14 points to lead the Blue Dragons. K.K. Adams finished with nine points. Tor’e Alford scored all of her eight points in the fourth quarter and Kate Ogle finished with eight points and a season-high 11 rebounds.

The Blue Dragons shot 40 percent for the game and held a 51-39 rebounding advantage. Hutchinson has now won its seventh-straight game and improved to 11-2 overall and 10-2 in the Jayhawk West.

Men’s Basketball- It was a tale of two halves for the men’s basketball team on Saturday in Garden City. The Broncbusters hit six 3-pointers in the first half and built a five-point lead at halftime.

The Blue Dragons turned things around in the second half, and outscored the Busters by 23 in the final 20 minutes to finish with an 88-70 Jayhawk West victory at Conestoga Arena.

The Blue Dragons wound up doubling up Garden City in the second half 46-23.

Josh Baker scored 14 points in the second half to lead the Blue Dragons to 51.5 percent overall shooting. The Blue Dragon defense held the Busters to 0 of 9 from 3-point range and just 30.4 percent overall shooting from the floor. Matt Mayers had his seventh-straight double-double and ninth of the season, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

The Blue Dragons finished the game shooting 47.0 percent and had a season-low seven turnovers. Hutchinson also owned a 47-27 rebound advantage, and Majok Kuath had a season-high 12 rebounds, his fourth game of 12 or more rebounds of his career.

The Blue Dragons have now won five in a row and improve to 10-3 overall, maintaining sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk West at 9-3. The Blue Dragons return to the Sports Arena on Wednesday for a game against the Barton Cougars.

Men’s Track – Sophomore Erick Johnson became the fourth Blue Dragon All-American of the 2021 NJCAA Indoor Championships. Johnson finished seventh on Saturday in the men’s triple jump with a top leap of 46 feet, 5.5 inches. Johnson was the only Blue Dragon to compete on the final day of the NJCAA Indoor Championships, and is the first Blue Dragon indoor triple jump All-American since Ryean Mastin in 2017. Johnson joins Teagan Flanagan and Zach Biel as 2021 Blue Dragon All-Americans. Hutchinson has now had at least one indoor All-American in seven consecutive seasons.

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