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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Two team records fell and
another was tied on Tuesday night, but the most important thing for the
Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team was a victory in the
opening round of the Region VI Tournament.
Hutchinson survived a
spectacular 30-point effort from Neosho County’s Danielle Harris to advance
to the Region VI quarterfinals with an 83-72 victory over the Panthers at
the Sports Arena.
With her second rebound of
the game, freshman Ariella McGhee broke Sherry Dishman’s 25-year old
single-season and freshman rebounding records. With her 12 rebounds on
Tuesday night, McGhee now has 312 rebounds. It’s her second school record
this season. McGhee also owns the single-game rebounding record of 20.
Hutchinson tied a team
record with its 27th victory of the season. The 2009 Lady Dragons (27-5)
tied the 1990 and 2002 teams for the most wins.
The Lady Dragons will try to
make that record their own on Friday when they play Cowley College at 1 p.m.
in the Region VI quarterfinals at Wichita State’s Koch Arena.
Neosho County had 12 3-point
goals vs. HCC; the most any opponent has had this season vs. the Lady
Dragons. Harris hit 7 of 14 from long range; the most any individual has had
against the Lady Dragons.
The Panthers (11-20) led
26-17 after a Kaitlin Biehl trey with 4:20 to play in the first half.
Freshman Heather Robben then put the Lady Dragons on her back, scoring 10
points in Hutch’s 14-4 run to close the opening half and take a 31-30 lead
at halftime.
“When we were struggling in
the first half, Heather stepped up and made some baskets,’ HCC head coach
John Ontjes said. “To win the region, kids are going to have to elevate
their games, relax and make some plays.”
Hutchinson built leads as
large as 16 points in the second half, but had to survive a second 3-point
barrage by Harris. Neosho County pulled within 74-69 with 2:45 to play, but
finished off the game on a 9-3 run.
“You want to win big so we
have momentum, but a win’s a win so we will take it,” Robben said. “I don’t
think we were all focused as a team and ready to play like we should have
been."
“(Smith) was amazing the way
she was knocking down 3s,” freshman Sasha King added. “We were out there,
but we couldn’t do anything with her. They were hitting really well from the
3-point line.”
Robben had her fourth
double-double of the season with a team-high 23 points, going 7 of 7 from
the free-throw line, and 10 rebounds.
King came off the bench to
spark HCC in the first half, hitting a pair of 3-point goals and finishing
with 17 points.
McGhee posted her 14th
double-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a
season high-tying three blocked shots.
Sophomore Brittany Hines
finished with 10 points. Freshman Naudia Campbell had seven.
The Lady Dragons shot 56.3
percent (18 of 32) in the second half to finish the game at 45.3 percent
from the field (29 of 64). The Lady Dragons were 4 of 14 from 3-point range
and 21 of 34 from the free-throw line. HCC tied a season high with eight
blocked shots, but turned the ball over 19 times.
Hutchinson had a decisive
58-33 rebounding advantage with three players in double-figure rebounds.
Campbell had a game- and season-high 14 rebounds.
HCC held Neosho County to
36.4 percent overall shooting (24 of 66). The Panthers were 12 of 31 from
3-point range and 12 of 24 from the free-throw line. Neosho County had 14
turnovers.
Ashley Milian had 14 points,
while Morris and Biehl had nine points each.
“Neosho made baskets against
us,” Ontjes said. “I thought that our kids did a good job of not losing
their composure. Neosho started the first half and made some perimeter
baskets. Our kids never panicked. Many times in postseason when kids get
down, they start to panic and start doing things they normally never do. Our
kids just kept making plays and got the lead back at halftime.”
Neosho County took advantage
of a slow HCC offensive start and had leads of 12-6, 21-15 and 26-17 in the
first half.
The Lady Dragons fought
their way back into the game with a 10-0 run to take a 27-26 lead. Then with
10 seconds to play, Robben scored from point-blank range with 10 seconds to
play for a 31-30 HCC halftime lead.
A 3-point goal and two free
throws by King and another McGhee inside bucket capped off a 19-4 Lady
Dragon run that gave them their largest lead of the game at 52-36 with 13:14
to play in the second half.
But Neosho’s 3-point
shooting, especially by Harris got the Panthers back into the game. Harris
hit four 3-pointers in five Neosho County possessions to pull the Panthers
within 68-61 with 5:01 to play in the game. A bucket by Morris got the
Panthers even closer at 74-69 with 2:45 remaining.
HCC finally put the game
away with a pair of transition baskets from Robben and McGhee to close the
game on a 9-3 run.
GAME NOTES
– This was the first Region VI meeting between HCC and Neosho County. … HCC
is now 23-9 in Region VI first-round games. … Robben jumped from 11th to
sixth on the single-season scoring list and from fifth to third on the
freshman scoring list with 460 points. … Robben jumped from fourth to second
on the freshman free-throw list with 105. … Robben jumped from eighth to
fifth on the freshman field goal list with 155. … This was Robben’s seventh
20-point game this season. … With her six assists, Lauren Sparks is now tied
for 12th with Dina Lock (1986-88) with 189 career assists. … HCC won its
12th straight game over Neosho County and is 14-1 all time and 8-1 at the
Sports Arena vs. the Panthers. … HCC is 24-2 when leading at halftime this
season. … The Lady Dragons finish the home season 17-2, the second-most home
wins in program history.
BOXSCORE
PHOTO GALLERY
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On Sasha King’s play …
“Sasha did a good job at the
point. She made some important shots and took care of the basketball. She
got the ball to the rim and converted some big buckets for us.”
Freshman Sasha King
On the spark she provided
in the first half …
“From the beginning, we said
we could drive and kick and we weren’t doing it. I was just trying to create
something and we got some easy baskets and it sparked us.”
On the decisive rebound
margin …
“We knew they would shoot
long shots and there would be long rebounds. We had to block out and push
the ball and that’s what we did.”
Freshman Heather Robben
On Neosho County’s
3-point shooting …
“Holy cow, their shots were
just going in. That will give you a chance to win when shots are going in,
even of you get a hand in their face.”
On what the Lady Dragons
need to improve on heading into the quarterfinals …
We need to start hitting
shots on the perimeter and in the post. We have to eliminate our turnovers
and make shots. |
