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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Sophomore Bobby Maze put the Hutchinson
Community College men’s basketball team on his back Saturday afternoon at
the Sports Arena and carried the Blue Dragons to a crucial 74-68 Jayhawk
Conference Western Division victory over Cloud County.
The victory snapped a two-game losing streak
and secured the second seed out of the Jayhawk West for the Blue Dragons
(22-8, 12-4 Jayhawk West) in the Region VI Tournament, which begins for HCC
on Tuesday night at home. There is still an outside chance that the Dragons
could claim a share of the Jayhawk West title if Colby could upset Seward
County Sunday afternoon in Colby.
Maze posted his fifth 30-point game of the
season on Saturday to propel the Dragons past a physical Cloud County team
(19-11, 11-5). He was 9 of 21 shooting, but knocked down 14 of 16 free
throws. Maze also had seven rebounds, four steals and seven assists to push
his season total to 205, becoming the third HCC player to have 200 assists
in a season.
“I came to the game today with a chip on my
shoulder,” Maze said. “I told my team before the game that this game means
everything to me. In a game time situation, I was going to do everything
that I could do to come out with a win. I hit some shots, but I’m glad my
teammates came through and we played our heart out.”
Fighting back from a seven-point deficit to
tie the game at 39-all at halftime, the Blue Dragons turned up the defensive
heat in the final 20 minutes. After shooting better than 60 percent through
the first 14 minutes of the game and 48 percent in the first half, the
Thunderbirds hit only 7 of 22 shots in the second half (31.8 percent).
Cloud County freshman Jemal Farmer, who had
26 points, was limited to no field goals and six free throws in the second
half by Maze, freshman Antonio Weary, sophomore Lamar Falley and freshman
Sam Edwards, who took turns defending him in the second half.
“He’s a terrific player,” HCC head coach Ryan
Swanson said. “We were too passive and soft on him in the first half. We did
a lot better job in the second half not making it easy for him to get a
catch. We kept rotating guys on him to keep people fresh and it was
effective.”
Falley was the only other Blue Dragon to
score in double figures with 10 points, hitting a key 3-pointer late in the
game that gave HCC a three-possession lead.
Freshman Antonio Weary finished with eight
points and sophomore Ken Bowman finished with seven.
The Dragons shot 22 of 51 overall (43.1
percent) and was 5 of 14 from 3-point range. The Dragons knocked down 20 of
30 free throws. HCC had a slight 35-34 rebounding advantage and turned the
ball over 18 times.
Rudy Meo added 18 points for Cloud County.
Girod Adams was next with eight points.
Overall, the Thunderbirds were 22 of 53 from
the floor (41.5 percent), 4 of 10 from 3-point range and 20 of 30 from the
free-throw line. The T-Birds had 19 turnovers and 13 steals.
Cloud County scored the first six points of
the game and jumped out to a 13-6 lead with 12:39 to play in the first half
before the Dragons’ offensive finally started to produce. HCC went on a 15-6
run and took its first lead at 21-19 on two Abdul Herrera free throws.
With Hutch leading 27-26, Cloud County went
on a quick 8-0 run to lead 34-27 after a Meo free throw with 5:51 to play in
the half.
Trailing 36-29, the Dragons started to turn
the tide with defense, holding Cloud County without a field goal for the
final 4:19. A key defensive play came when HCC’s Edwards was able to force a
five-second call on Meo with 18 seconds left in the half and HCC trailing by
two. The Dragons turned that into a Maze layup with five seconds remaining
to close a 10-3 run and tie the game at halftime at 39-all.
“Sam got up and defended and Ken did a great
job of going out and defending his guy,” Swanson said. “A five-second count
is a team effort. It means Sammy locked someone up and didn’t give any room
on him for five seconds. But it also meant that his teammates didn’t let
anyone get open either. That was a crucial turning point in that first half.
It was a huge emotional lift.”
There were seven lead changes and five ties
over the first 17 minutes of the second half. HCC led 59-53 after a Maze
field goal with 5:12 to play, but Cloud County answered seven consecutive
points and took a 60-59 lead with 3:50 to play after two Meo free throws.
Maze then took over, hitting a pair of free
throws with 3:22 left to give HCC a 51-60 lead, and then knocked down
back-to-back field goals to push the margin to five at 65-60 with 2:11 left.
Maze then dished out his seventh, and maybe biggest assists of the game when
he penetrated to the hoop and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Falley, who
buried the 3-pointer with 1:29 to play to give HCC a 69-62 lead.
HCC hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final 57
seconds to close out the victory.
The Blue Dragons open Region VI Tournament
play on Tuesday night against Fort Scott at 7:30 p.m. in the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson defeated Fort Scott 79-45 in an earlier meeting in December at
the Jayhawk Shootout.
GAME NOTES
– The team’s five sophomores – Bobby Maze, Ken Bowman, Lamar Falley, Henry
Rogers and Abdul Herrera – were honored before the game on Sophomore Day. …
Farmer has scored 48 points in two games against HCC this season. … HCC is
now 35-13 all time against Cloud County, 19-2 in Hutchinson. … With his two
3-point goals on Saturday, Falley is now 10th on HCC’s single-season 3-point
list with 57. … This was all-time victory No. 1,497 for HCC. … Maze’s
14-of-16 free-throw performance was team and individual season highs for
makes and attempts. … Maze tied a career high with four steals. … Freshman
Austin Bond made his first appearance after missing 19 straight games with
an injury. … Blue Dragon All-75th Anniversary team member Henry T. Buchanan
(1984-86) was in attendance on Saturday. Buchanan is second on the HCC
single-season and third on the career assists list.
<HCC-CLOUD COUNTY MEN'S BOXSCORE>
<HCC MEN-CLOUD COUNTY PHOTO GALLERY>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach Ryan Swanson
On Bobby Maze …
“I don’t know if I have ever had a player
have a better conference that Bobby. He has so made so many contributions.
He would be hard to replace. We are fortunate that Bobby’s not only a
terrific player and point guard. We get spoiled because he makes plays all
the time.”
On Lamar Falley’s late 3-point goal …
“The three that Lamar hit late showed a lot
of courage for him to step up and stick that shot. Bobby knew he could get a
shot for him and Lamar stepped up and hit a big shot for us late in the
game.”
Sophomore Bobby Maze
On defending Cloud County’s Jemal Farmer …
“I played a little on him. Peanut, Lamar,
even Sam played him. He’s a good, strong basketball player. He knows the
game. He’s hard to stop because he’s so active. We did a great job on him in
the second half.”
Sophomore Lamar Falley
On Bobby Maze …
“It’s great to have a player like Bobby Maze.
He’s always playing hard. Toward the end of the game he was really getting
aggressive and that’s when he’s at his best. He brings all the energy to the
team.”
On defending Cloud County’s Jemal Farmer …
“We wanted to get more physical with him. In
the first half, he was really comfortable with his shots. In the second
half, we got more physical with him.” |
