By Rebecca Carney
Co-Sports Editor
The NJCAA’s No. 4 scoring defense was at its best Saturday night as the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball teams held a greatly-improved Pratt team 32 points under its scoring average. The No. 4-ranked Blue Dragons limited Pratt to 32.5 percent shooting in a 69-38 victory.
Hutchinson improved to 19-0 overall and 10-0 in the Jayhawk West, with freshman Abby Ogle leading all scorers with 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting, including a three-pointer.
Men’s Basketball: The HutchCC men’s basketball team faced an uphill battle all night against the Pratt Beavers at the Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons trailed by as many as eight points in the first half and were down by one point at halftime.
The No. 9 Hutchinson men managed to tie the game in the final minute and D.J. Mitchell hit a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left, adding a pair of free throws with seven seconds to play, for a come-from-behind 60-57 victory over the Beavers.
The Blue Dragons improve to 16-3 overall and 7-3 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragon men will play Colby on Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Track: The Hutchinson Community College track and field teams will push their 2019 indoor track season opener back one week after bad weather forced the Highland Challenge at Highland Community College to be called off.
The Blue Dragons will open their season this weekend at the Jayhawk Classic on Friday and Saturday at the University of Kansas.
Baseball: Coming off a 39-win season and third-place Region 6 Tournament finish, the Hutchinson Community College baseball team is tapped as the preseason favorite to win the 2019 Jayhawk West.
The Blue Dragons will open the 2019 season on Feb. 2 at Coffeyville and will play their first home game on Feb. 8 as part of a weekend series with Highland and Indian Hills.
Softball: The Hutchinson Community College softball team was picked to finish third in the Division I Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons will be returning to Division 1 after 10 seasons as a Division 2 program.
The Blue Dragon softball team will open the 2019 season on Feb. 8 at Northern Oklahoma-Enid, and open at home on Feb. 13 against Cloud County at Fun Valley.
