Beavers stun Blue Dragons
Pratt upends Dragons to drop HCC to
second place in Jayhawk West Conference
By Joey Young
Staff Writer

            The Hutchinson Community College Men’s basketball team is 21-3 and tied for second place in the Jayhawk West Conference. 

            Coach Wintz isn’t worried about his men because he knows they have been in every game this year and were in the Pratt game until the very end.

 When asked if the past success of the Dragon Men would help them get though a rough loss and back on track, Wintz’s voice wasn’t shaky when he said, “I don’t think there will be a loss of confidence, and I think we will get back on track without a problem.”

 The Dragons lit it up at the beginning of the game with no turnovers in the first nine minutes and had a huge lead at 18-4. Playing stellar defense and taking care of the ball on offense, it seemed as if Hutchinson would put up another easy win with a 28-14 lead.

            But the Beavers fought back and played with amazing poise to bring them to a tie before the half.

            When play resumed, sophomore Brandon Gary drained four straight treys to put the Dragons up 38-32. The Beavers just kept gnawing at the lead until they reached 65-57. Pratt never looked back, gaining the lead and claiming victory, 77-72.

 “We didn’t play one of our better games, but Pratt played a great game,” Wintz said. “We shouldn’t get caught up with what we did wrong. We just need to hone up a few problem areas and fix them.”

            The Blue Dragons play at home on Saturday, Feb. 14 versus Garden City. Tip off is at 8 p.m.