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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Saturday, February 16, 2008
PRATT – While Bobby Maze was scoring on one
end, Abdul Herrera was making sure Pratt wasn’t scoring on the other end on
Saturday night at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena.
The two Hutchinson Community College
sophomores were big reasons why the Blue Dragons were able to snap a
four-game losing streak at Pratt with a 72-61 Jayhawk West victory over the
Beavers on Saturday night.
Maze scored 29 points on 9 of 20 shooting and
a sizzling 11 of 11 from the free-throw line to lead the Blue Dragons
offensively. It was his 13th 20-point game of the season and first in five
games. Maze scored the final 10 points of the game for the Dragons.
But it was defense that really helped the
Blue Dragons (20-6, 10-2 Jayhawk West) win 20 games for the 40th time in
program history.
“As a group, they just want to win,” HCC head
coach Ryan Swanson said. “They are always happy for each other. There’s no
selfishness. They all believe in each other. They understand each other’s
strengths and weaknesses and they do a good job of helping each other play
to their strengths.”
Defensively, the Blue Dragons held Pratt to
29.7 percent shooting (19 of 54), which is the third-straight game to hold
an opponent to less than 30 percent for a game.
One of the reasons was Herrera, who rejected
a season-high six shots and had a season-high three steals; while helping
HCC to a 49-41 rebounding advantage with seven boards.
Also instrumental on the defensive end were
guards Sam Edwards, Blake Bales and Derek Burgan, who combined with the HCC
starters to hold Pratt’s guards to a combined 10 of 36 shooting with nine
turnovers.
“We are coming together defensively,” Maze
said. “I can’t say enough about Sam and Blake coming off the bench. They
pressured full court and helped change the game. Derek Burgan’s also not
getting enough credit for his defense.”
In the last three games, HCC’s defense has
allowed an average of 52.3 points and has held those opponents to 27.6
percent shooting.
The Blue Dragons, who trailed for a
considerable portion of the first half before taking a 32-28 halftime lead,
shot 23 of 55 overall (41.8 percent) and 3 of 13 from 3-point range and 23
of 33 from the free-throw line. The Dragons did have 19 turnovers.
Sophomore Lamar Falley was the only other
Blue Dragon in double figures with 10 points. Herrera and sophomore Ken
Bowman had seven points each. Sophomore Henry Rogers pulled down a game-high
12 rebounds.
Pratt (10-16, 4-8) had four players in double
figures led by Jordan Hammond’s 15 points. Alex Rivas had 11 points and 12
rebounds. Will Collins added 11 and Carlin Whitten finished with 10 points
and eight boards. The Beavers were 5 of 22 from 3-point range and just 18 of
35 from the free-throw line, only 8 of 19 in the first half.
The Dragons led 13-8 with 13 minutes to play
in the first half, but went scoreless for the next 4 minutes, 8 seconds.
Pratt went on an 11-0 run over that stretch and took a 17-13 lead on two
Hardeman free throws with 10 minutes to play.
Burgan’s 3-point goal with 8:52 left finally
snapped the scoring skid for Hutch, pulling the Dragons within one at 17-16.
Pratt maintained the lead for most of the remainder of the half, building a
28-23 lead on a Hammond 3-pointer with 2:56 to play.
The Dragons held Pratt scoreless for the
remainder of the half, scoring the final nine points to take a 32-28 lead at
halftime.
The Beavers started the second half on a 7-2
run and took a 35-34 lead on Whitten’s inside hoop with 16:50 to play.
About a minute later, HCC took back the lead for good when Falley drained a
baseline 3-pointer to give Hutch a 37-35 lead with 15:52 to play.
Pratt managed to tie the game at 40-all, but
the Dragons went on a quick 6-0 run capped off by Herrera’s dunk for a 46-40
lead with 12:16 remaining.
HCC’s defense held Pratt to just five field
goals in the final 9:50 of the game, holding the Beavers to a collective 10
of 34 shooting in the second half (29.4 percent).
Leading 59-54 with 2:44 to play, Falley
popped another big 3-point goal and Maze scored the final 10 HCC points,
going 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:31 to secure the
victory.
The Blue Dragons play host to Colby on
Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.
GAME NOTES
– HCC is now 124-22 all time vs. Pratt. … This was the 51st season sweep of
Pratt in series history. … This was victory No. 1,495 in Blue Dragon
history. … The Blue Dragons clinched a home game for the first round of the
Region VI Tournament. … Herrera tied Ken Bowman for single-game high in
blocked shots with six. … Sophomore Henry Rogers had his seventh double
figures rebounding game, his second highest total of the season with 13. …
Sophomore Ken Bowman had his 12th double-figure rebounding game of the
season. … HCC held Pratt to less than 30 percent shooting in both meetings.
… This was the fifth time that HCC has held an opponent to less than 30
percent shooting this season. … This was HCC’s 31st consecutive game to hold
an opponent to less than 50 percent shooting. … Maze is now alone in fourth
place on HCC’s single-season assist list (187). …Maze’s 11 of 11 free-throw
shooting was a team season high for makes and shooting percentage.
<HCC MEN-PRATT
BOXSCORE>
OTHER QUOTES
Head coach Ryan Swanson
On the play of freshman Sam Edwards …
“Sam Edwards once again was the difference.
Not only did he play great defense, but he sparked us. Everyone feeds off of
him when he plays like he does. We don’t need Sam to score and he knows we
don’t need him to score. I need him to take care of the ball and guard like
he does. I don’t know if you will find a guy who scores two points in a game
and has a bigger impact.”
On the play of Abdul Herrera …
“The game was very physical and that suits
Abdul. For him to pick up seven rebounds, score seven points, three steals
and six blocks, it was a huge effort.”
On the play of Bobby Maze …
“Bobby showed some good patience. He didn’t
force a lot. They didn’t want to give him a chance to have 15 or 16 assists,
so they took their changes trying to defend him. To his credit, Bobby hit a
lot of shots and got to the free-throw line a lot.”
Sophomore Abdul Herrera
On the team’s defense …
“The first half, we didn’t play that well. We
picked it up in the second half. We’ve been working hard on our defense in
practice. That’s what we have to do to win the title.”
On his six blocked shots …
“I know I can block shots. I haven’t been
doing it like I’m supposed to. Anytime they go to the basket, that’s my job.
Hopefully I can keep doing it.”
On getting a road win …
“It was big to get a road win. It’s tough to
win on the road. We have to take care at home and we have to keep winning.”
Sophomore Bobby Maze
On Abdul Herrera …
“Abdul did great. He’s playing the best
basketball he’s played all year right now. The kid’s playing with fire. No
better time for him to come along than right now.”
On how Pratt defended the Dragons …
“As a point guard, you take what the defense
gives you. I just do whatever it takes to win. Some games I might have big
scoring nights, some games not so much. Either way I’m OK with it.” |
