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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Friday, November 2, 2007
The Hutchinson Community College women’s
basketball team dominated from the outset as the Lady Dragons opened the
John Ontjes era in winning fashion with a 55-30 victory over the Kansas
Wesleyan Junior Varsity on Friday night at the 2007 Quarterback Classic.
HCC (1-0) held the Coyotes scoreless for the
first 7 minutes, 17 seconds and without a field goal for the first 13
minutes of the game. By that time, the Lady Dragons had built a 17-point
lead and never looked back.
“You never want to complain about a win,”
Ontjes said. “It always a good feeling to get a win. I felt like we were a
little sloppy at times. We didn’t pass the basketball. We weren’t as crisp
and we didn’t execute. I know it’s going to take some time. I was please
with how we defended.”
Defensively, the Lady Dragons were stifling,
holding the Coyotes to 15.6 percent shooting (7 of 45) and 4 of 29 from
3-point range (13.8 percent). Wesleyan turned the ball over 19 times.
Melanie Berg had a game-high 13 points and
seven rebounds to lead Kansas Wesleyan (0-1).
Hutchinson shot 30.9 percent for the game (21
of 68), but fell off to 9 of 36 shooting in the second half. HCC also
knocked down 5 of 16 3-pointers and had a big 54-34 rebounding advantage.
Sophomore Hailey Purcell had nine rebounds, while sophomore Amber Schroer
added eight boards.
No Lady Dragon scored in double figures.
Sophomore Amanda Fessenden and Freshman Morgan Leatherbury had nine points
each. Leatherbury had a good all-around game with six rebounds and six
assists.
Freshmen Brittany Hines and Kylee Naccarato
had eight points each.
“We did pretty good,” Leatherbury said. “We
are going to have to step it up tomorrow and shoot better. We did pretty
good on defense.”
Hutchinson held KW to 2 of 21 shooting in the
first half (9.5 percent) as the Lady Dragons raced out to a 20-point
halftime lead. Hutch opened the game on a 15-0 run, which was capped off by
sophomore Amber Schroer’s inside hoop with 13:14 to play in the first half.
HCC really distanced themselves in the second
half with a 10-0 run early in the period. Sophomore Fairen Lepaio’s bucket
with 13:14 to play gave the Lady Dragons a 43-15 lead. Sophomore Lanikia
Lawrence’s layup with 5:13 to play pushed the Hutch lead to 30 points at
51-21. Leatherbury’s inside hoop on the next possession gave the Lady
Dragons their largest lead of the game at 32 points (53-21).
The Lady Dragons will play host to Labette on
Saturday night in the final night of the Quarterback Classic.
GAME NOTES
– The Lady Dragons won their seventh-straight season opener. HCC is now 27-7
in season openers. … Of KW’s 19 turnovers, 14 were from HCC steals. Lanikia
Lawrence had six steals to lead Hutch. … The Lady Dragons only turned the
ball over 13 times. … HCC is now 6-0 all-time against the Kansas Wesleyan
Junior Varsity. … HCC turned 15 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance
points … The HCC bench contributed 32 points to the starting five’s 23
points.
<HCC-KANSAS
WESLEYAN JV BOX>
<LABETTE-BROWN
MACKIE BOX>
<HCC PHOTO GALLERY>
<QUARTERBACK
CLASSIC GAME NOTES>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the quick start …
“We came out and we were focused. We were
ready to play from the start. It’s something we’ve been concentrating on. We
lost our intensity and we lost that focus. It became very sloppy and we
didn’t’ concentrate very well.”
On the sloppy play in the second half …
“They went to a zone and we didn’t do a very
good job of getting the ball to the short corner and when we got the ball
inside, we didn’t’ convert. When you settle for long jumpers and you are not
making baskets, it’s frustrating.”
On keeping players fresh for the
weekend …
“Playing back-to-back, I wanted to keep our
legs fresh so that we can come back and have the same intensity the next
night. We have a tough game with Labette tomorrow. They are an excellent
team. They have strong post play. They have guards who can make some
baskets, so we will have a challenge.”
Freshman Morgan Leatherbury
On playing for Coach Ontjes in college
after two years in high school …
“He has the same way of coaching. Being
familiar with Coach Ontjes has helped.” |
