By Cole Deutschendorf
Co-sports editor
They say only three things are guaranteed in life – death, taxes, and the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team having a successful season under coach John Ontjes.
Excluding the 2014-15 season, in which the team was forced to forfeit their regular-season wins, the Blue Dragons are a combined 398-52.
Not too shabby.
This season, HutchCC finished at 19-5 in the KJCCC and 29-6 overall, as the Blue Dragons tied with Independence for first in the conference.
Most notably, the Blue Dragons avenged each of their conference losses at one point or another throughout the season. After losing to Barton, Coffeyville, and Independence at early points in the season, they would go on to pummel all three teams later, winning those three games by a combined 81 points.
Their other two conference losses came against Seward County in the regular season, but the Blue Dragons beat them when it mattered the most, dispatching them by eight points in the Region 6 semifinals.
HutchCC had surreptitiously given themselves a shot at a favorable seeding in the NJCAA Division 1 Championships, but instead received the 19 seed.
They won their first round match over Casper, Wyoming, but lost to Georgia Highlands, the eventual tournament runner-up, in the second round.
But still, a 29-win season that ended up in a share of the regular season conference championship and a regional tournament championship is nothing short of another amazing season for the women’s team.
Not to mention, the future for the Blue Dragons is bright, as they will return seven freshmen from this year’s team.
The talented freshman group was highlighted by Mya Williams, who had the most points scored in Blue Dragon history by a freshman, and the second most points overall.
Third year sophomore Tor’e Alford wrapped up a great career with a 22-point game against Georgia Highland. Alford finished fifth in 3-pointers made in a career (161) and third in assists (321) in the History of the Blue Dragons.
The team had several impressive statistics as a whole as well, scoring the third most points (2,558), third most 3-pointers (276), and the second most made free throws (579) in HutchCC history.
