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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Saturday, December 1, 2007
COFFEYVILLE – The Hutchinson Community College was yet again its own worst enemy,
committing 30 turnovers in a 63-45 loss to Coffeyville on the second day of
the Jayhawk Shootout at Nellis Hall, snapping the Lady Dragons’ six-game
winning streak in the Shootout.
The 30 turnovers marked the second straight
game that Hutchinson (7-2) has committed 30 or more turnovers, although the
last time was in a 72-64 win over Northern Oklahoma.
“We’re just going to continue to do
ball-handling drills and passing drills, hopefully we value the basketball
more,” said HCC head coach John Ontjes, whose team is averaging more than 23
turnovers per game.
“There’s nothing the other teams are doing
differently, we just make dumb decisions and we need to cut down on that,”
HCC point guard Lauren Sparks said. “We have been improving; we just have to
keep that up.”
The defense kept the Lady Dragons in the game
for most of the way, holding Coffeyville to just 34 percent shooting (21 of
62). Coffeyville had been averaging 71.2 points this season and was
shooting an average of 35.5 percent from the field.
“When you rebound the ball and keep teams to
shooting 34 percent, you’re going to be in the game,” sophomore Amanda
Fessenden said.
HCC shot 35 percent from the field (14 of 40)
and was 4 of 14 from the 3-point line and only 13 of 22 from the free-throw
line. A notable achievement at the line occurred when Fessenden sank two
free throws to stretch her consecutive free-throw streak to 18 straight, an
HCC record.
Fessenden and Sparks led the Lady Dragons
with nine points each. Sophomores Fairen Lepaio, Amber Schroer and freshman
Morgan Leatherbury had six points each.
The Lady Dragons also outrebounded the Red
Ravens 42-37. Coffeyville was still able to create more offensive
opportunities though, as it pulled down 12 offensive rebounds. Sophomore
Hailey Purcell had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Coffeyville (6-5) was led by Tarita Gordon,
who had 18 points with four assists and four steals. Annie Gross had 12
points and ShiNiece Cox had 10 points.
The contest got off to a very slow start with
Hutchinson holding a 5-1 lead with lead five minutes into the game after two
Fessenden field goals. Gordon hit a three at the 9:54 mark to give
Coffeyville a 6-5 lead and the Ravens never trailed again.
“It was a defensive battle, both teams
weren’t making shots,” Fessenden said.
Coffeyville’s run stretched all the way to
14-5 before a Brittany Hines 3-pointer at the 6:24 mark broke a 9-minute and
36-second scoreless drought by the Dragons and pull within 14-8.
The Red Ravens kept the pressure on HCC the
rest of the half, and went into the half with a 25-16 lead. It was the
fewest points scored in a half this season for the Lady Dragons, with the
second lowest being 18 against Cowley College.
Coffeyville kept a steady lead over HCC for
most of the second half, but the Lady Dragons went on a 7-0 run capped by
three Leatherbury free throws to pull within three at 38-35 with 7:56
remaining.
HCC continued to hang around until the 4:57
mark when Lacie Ward drilled a 3-pointer to give Coffeyville a 49-40 lead.
The Red Ravens only shot 14 of 23 from the
line, but it was enough to pull away down the stretch to complete the
victory.
“We battled back, we never gave up,” Ontjes
said. “That’s a tough place to play on the road, and we’re going to learn
from this and hopefully this will help us in conference play.”
HCC will get the chance to rebound when they
take on Labette (6-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday in the final day of the Jayhawk
Shootout.
GAME NOTES
– Part of the early run for Coffeyville was a technical foul on John Ontjes.
ShiNiece Cox sunk both free throws. … Previously three players held the
consecutive free-throw record at 17. … Three times last season Fessenden had
16 straight before missing. … The win for the Red Ravens is their fourth
straight in the series. The last Hutchinson win came in the 2000 Jayhawk
Shootout by the score of 69-67. … HCC played Labette in the second game of
the season in the Quarterback Classic and won 80-64.
<HCC-COFFEYVILLE BOXSCORE>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the defense…
“Transition defense wasn’t very good; we
didn’t do a good job of stopping the basketball. They got the ball to the
rim and they made some 3-point shots late in the shot clock that really hurt
us. It wasn’t one of our better efforts.”
On the comeback …
“We hung in there until about the 4-minute
mark, and then we just didn’t get any defensive stops. If you can’t get
defensive stops at the end of the game, you are not going to win.”
Sophomore Amanda Fessenden
On the turnovers …
“We need to figure it out quick; we’re not
going to win many games with 30 turnovers. We’ll get it, we’ll be alright.
Freshman Lauren Sparks
On the team improving …
“We need to make our practices a little bit
more intense, and more physical between us to get ready for the games
better. We get a little bit nervous, and we need to settle down.” |
