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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Sophomores played a major role in the
Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team going 4-0 to start a
Jayhawk Conference Western Division season in 11 years on Wednesday night
against the Pratt Beavers at the Sports Arena.
Bobby Maze had his fourth-straight 20-point
game and Ken Bowman posted his 10th double-double this season in HCC’s 84-66
victory over the Beavers, only the second Hutchinson victory over the
Beavers in the last eight games.
Hutchinson (14-4 overall) has won nine
straight games for the first time since the 2003-04 season. The Dragons are
4-0 in conference play for the first time since 1997. The Blue Dragons are
the last unbeaten team in the league.
Maze posted his 10th 20-plus point game of
the season on Wednesday night, going for 23 points, five rebounds, five
assists, two steals and two blocked shots. Maze was 9 of 16 from the field
and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line.
Bowman had an impressive double-double with
17 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. He had eight points and 10 boards
by halftime. This was Bowman’s 14th career double-double.
“Kenny’s been rebounding for us for two
years,” HCC head coach Ryan Swanson said. “He’s getting better and better.
He will go rebound in traffic and he did that tonight. It was a phenomenal
effort.”
Sophomore Antonio Weary reached double-figure
points for the seventh time in eight games with a 13-point, nine rebound
performance. Weary also had two steals.
Sophomore Henry Rogers had 10 points and
seven rebounds. Rogers was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Lamar Falley finished with nine
points. Sophomore Abdul Herrera had his best conference game of the season
with eight points on 4 of 6 shooting and 10 rebounds, including six
offensive boards.
The Blue Dragons were 32 of 72 overall (44.4
percent), just 2 of 8 from 3-point range and 18 of 25 from the free-throw
line. The Dragons had 16 turnovers and outrebounded Pratt 60-43.
Hutchinson’s defense was strong in holding
the fast-paced Beavers to 28.0 percent shooting (21 of 75), the lowest shot
percentage for a Blue Dragon opponent this season. It’s the second time this
season that HCC has held an opponent to less than 30 percent shooting this
season.
“We are not just Bobby. We are not just
Kenny. We are a complete team,” Swanson said. “Those guys get a lot of
attention and they should, but we have a lot of guys who contribute and have
a chance to shine. What’s made me proudest of this group is the way they
have all bought into the idea of that defense is going to win us games. It
starts with Sam (Edwards), Antonio and Henry. Blake Bales did a great job
defensively.”
Pratt (7-11, 1-3) was 7 of 24 from 3-point
range and 17 of 28 from the free-throw line. The Beavers committed 15
turnovers. Brett Crittenden and Jordan Hammond had 13 points each. Carlin
Whitten had 11 points and nine rebounds. Will Collins also had 11 points.
“We are coming together as a team,” Bowman
said. “The other guys are getting comfortable with the team, with the
playbook and they are starting to make plays now that we weren’t making in
the first half of the season.”
The Dragons roared out of the gate, jumping
out to a 13-1 lead just 4 minutes, 22 seconds into the game. Six different
Dragons scored in that run. After a Pratt timeout, the Beavers responded
with a 14-3 run over the next 3 1/2 minutes and pulled within 16-15 on a
Whitten bucket with 11:07 to go.
Hutchinson then emphatically took charge with
a 10- run highlighted by three steals leading to transition slam dunks by
Weary, Maze and Weary again, than dunk giving HCC a 26-15 lead with 8:58 to
play in the half.
Another Weary dunk on a follow of a missed
shot with 6 seconds to play in the half gave HCC a 41-27 lead, but Pratt’s
Crittenden sank a 50-foot buzzer-beater, to cut the Dragon lead to 41-30 at
halftime.
Hutchinson’s lead never dipped into single
figures.
Maze’s steal and layup with 15:33 to play
capped off an 8-0 run to push the lead to 19 at 53-34. A Sam Edwards
3-pointer gave Hutch its first 20-point lead with 13:15 to play. An 11-4
Pratt run pulled the Beavers within 67-53 with 7:22.
The Blue Dragons travel to Colby at 4 p.m. on
Sunday.
GAME NOTES
– Bowman’s previous rebounding high was 17 against the Bethel Junior
Varsity. … The 60 team rebounds were a season high. … This was the 11th time
this season that HCC has held an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting.
It’s the 24th consecutive time that HCC has held an opponent to less than 50
percent shooting. … HCC is now 123-22 vs. Pratt, the most victories for the
Dragons vs. any opponent. … HCC’s bench outscored Pratt’s 24-12. … This was
the ninth time for HCC to break the 80-point mark. … This was Ken Bowman’s
18th game with 10 or more rebounds.
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OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach Ryan Swanson
On the team’s rebounding …
“I thought for the most part we did a very
good job on the glass, especially in the first half. I was disappointed we
gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the second half, but we did a great job for
the most part. Anytime you win a conference game by 18 points, you are doing
something right defensively.”
On the team’s defense …
“We lead the conference in opponent’s field
goal percentage. It’s something that we take a lot of pride in. We didn’t
give Pratt any easy looks. We did a good job of that.”
Sophomore Abdul Herrera
On the team’s rebounding …
“We have to do what we have to do to
rebounds. That’s what I care about. We played smart and played tough and got
their big guy out of the game. We are playing hard. We are concentrating on
defense mostly.”
Sophomore Ken Bowman
On rebounding …
“I knew that I had to go at (Rivas) and keep
him off the offensive boards and get him off the glass. Our guys did a great
job of getting some early fouls on him and getting him out of the game. It
was easier on me when I didn’t have a 6-11 guy in the game.” |
