By Greta Klein
Sports Editor
X: @gmklein32
The ball bouncing on the hardwood floor of the Hutchinson Sports Arena and the pep band playing catchy tunes means the Blue Dragons’ are back. The No. 1 Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team showed up and showed out against Neosho County on Tuesday, beating the Panthers 122-70 during the home opener.
The Blue Dragons’ starting lineup included players from the 2024 NJCAA national championship team, such as Hailey Jackson, Madi Denison, Kahlen Norris and Jada Pleasant.
The Blue Dragons came out strong and fast as they dropped 33 points on Neosho’s 19 points during the first quarter. Taking advantage of the Panthers’ turnovers, Hutch scored 17 points off those alone.
The Blue Dragons’ shooting percentage started at a solid 45.8 percent in the first quarter and moved to 57.1 percent in the second quarter.
Many fastbreak points were made in the first half including buckets from sophomore forward Brynne Katcher who had 16 points with many of them being from fastbreak opportunities. Katcher also had 12 rebounds along with 1 block.
“Honestly all my scoring had to do with my teammates,” Katcher said. “I was just standing down there at the basket and they were able to get me the ball. I think it was a great opener for us to just work as a team.”
The Panthers had their best scoring quarter being in the second with 22 points but still not outscoring the Blue Dragons with 29 points. HutchCC ended the first half 62-41, with 30 of those points from being in the paint.
“Our team is very athletic,” Blue Dragons coach John Ontjes said. “When we looked up the floor and then pass to open people, we were able to get a lot easier shots which is how we extended the lead.”
Coming back from halftime, the heads of the Panthers were down as the Blue Dragons had a 21-point lead. That did not keep the Panthers from putting pressure on the ball whether it was at the top of the key or full-court press.
During the third quarter, 42 out of the 95 points were due from turnovers from the Panthers.
Neosho struggled to get shots to fall throughout the second half and ended up having their lowest scoring quarter during the fourth, only getting 12 points compared to HutchCC’s 27.
The Blue Dragons kept pushing the ball up the court while having 31 points off of fast break to Neosho’s six. HutchCC continued to find their groove by dropping 27 points in the fourth quarter.
Leading the team in stats for the night, Jackson dropped 30 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and four steals.
“I just knew coming into this season I had a big role,” Jackson said. “I feel like I’m just doing my job and doing what is expected of me.”
Despite Jackson having a great night for stats, it was as much a team effort as it was for individual stats.
“During all four quarters I think we were pretty consistent scoring the basketball,” Ontjes said. “I thought we did a great job of defending the perimeter even though they did shoot it well from three. We did a decent job of keeping the basketball in front of us, recognizing switches and did a better job tonight of being a good rebounding team.”
