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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Monday, March 9, 2009
WICHITA – The Hutchinson
Community College women’s basketball team will play in the NJCAA National
Tournament for the first time in 32 years.
The Lady Dragons defeated
Jayhawk West rival Seward County 53-51 in an intense defensive battle at the
2009 Region VI championship game at on Monday night Wichita State’s Charles
Koch Arena.
Hutchinson (30-4), which won
its second regional title in team history, qualifies for the 2009 NJCAA
National Tournament, which begins March 17 at the Bicentennial Center in
Salina. Official pairings for the 16-team field will be released on
Wednesday.
“I played in two of those
games and never got to play in the national tournament,” said HCC head coach
John Ontjes, referring to the two Region VI title games he played in in 1992
and 1993 while playing for HCC. “Now I get to go coach in the national
tournament. I am very delighted to be a part of that. The reason I am going
is the 11 players in that locker room.”
“We’ve been working all year
for this,” said freshman Ariella McGhee, the regional tournament MVP. “This
was our goal.”
The 2009 Lady Dragons, who
are the 10th consecutive Jayhawk West team to win the Region VI
championship, became the first team in program history to win 30 games in a
season.
Playing in its third-ever
regional title game, the first since 1978, Hutchinson defeated Seward County
with yet another dazzling defensive effort.
Hutchinson held Seward
County (28-6) to a season-low 15 points in the first half and to 29.5
percent shooting, the 17th time that the Lady Dragons have held an opponent
to less than 30-shooting. HCC’s guards were particularly tough, holding
Seward County’s guards to 7 of 33 shooting. Hutch held the Saints 25 points
under their season-scoring average.
“Before the game, I was just
thinking I wanted to play as hard as I could because coach was saying that’s
all we needed to focus on,” said sophomore Brittany Hines, who didn’t score,
but had a tremendous floor and defensive game, tying a career high with four
steals. “I tried to look for my shot, but when that’s not there, I try to
look for other things to help the team out.”
The Lady Dragons needed
every defensive play it could muster as Seward County held HCC to a
season-low 53 points. The Lady Dragons shot 38.6 percent overall, but turned
the ball over 22 times.
Freshman Brittany Chamberlin
led the way for Hutchinson with 14 points, tying a season high with four
3-point goals.
“Coach wanted someone to
step up tonight,” Chamberlin said. “I just rose to the occasion and I wanted
to win this title for Hutch and to make history.”
Chamberlin led a strong
effort from the HCC bench, which outscored Seward County’s 25-11.
Freshman Naudia Campbell –
an all-tournament selection - had her third-straight Region VI double-double
with 10 points, 12 rebounds, a season-high four assists and two steals.
McGhee finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Leading scorer Heather
Robben struggled and finished with seven points.
Hutchinson was 22 of 57
overall, but 7 of 20 from 3-point range. The Lady Dragons were just 2 of 8
from the free-throw line.
Seward County was just 5 of
25 shooting in the first half and finished 18 of 61 for the game, including
5 of 21 from long range. The Saints were 10 of 18 from the free-throw line
and turned the ball over 20 times.
Rachel Barnes finished with
18 points to lead Seward County. Amanda Pierson had 13 points and 10
rebounds.
“They were gaining momentum,
but we made enough plays at the end of the game,” Ontjes said.
Playing against each other
for the third time this season, both defenses dominated early in the game.
There were three lead changes in the fist 10:08 of the game
HCC trailed 12-7 and went on
a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. A Lauren Sparks 3-pointer tied the game
at 12-all, and then inside buckets from McGhee and Campbell gave HCC a 16-12
lead with 8:53 to play in the opening half.
The Lady Dragon defense took
over from there holding Seward County scoreless for the final 7:57 of the
first half and to just three points in the final 12:51 of the half. HCC
outscored Seward County 21-7 over that stretch and led 28-15 at halftime.
“We knew they were going to
make some 3s or get the basketball inside,” Ontjes said. “We discussed that
we needed to keep our composure and take it possession by possession. We
wanted to get a shot every possession. It didn’t work out that way, but we
made enough plays to win the basketball game.”
The Saints made their first
second-half run early in the second half, pulling within 32-28 on a LaNell
Taylor 3-pointer with 13:37 to play in the game. HCC answered that run with
a quick 8-0 burst, getting 3-pointers from King and Chamberlin and a
mid-range jumper by McGhee to push the lead back to 40-28 with 11:14 to
play.
Leading 46-33 with 9:36 to
play in the second half, HCC went scoreless for the next 4:40, as the Saints
score eight straight to pull within 46-41 with 4:58 to go. McGhee scored and
then Chamberlin sank her fourth 3-pointer of the game to gave Hutch a 51-41
lead with 3:24 to play.
HCC scored just two more
points the rest of the game, but that came from a Chamberlin transition
layup with 1:29 to play to give the Lady Dragons a 53-47 lead. The Saints
pulled within two with 15 seconds to play, but Seward County wasn’t able to
get a final shot off.
GAME NOTES – HCC was
outrebounded 43-41. The Lady Dragons are now 3-2 when being outrebounded. …
The Lady Dragons are now 2-1 in the Region VI championship game. … HCC is
now 34-30 in Region VI play, 3-5 against Seward County. … McGhee’s
single-season and freshman rebounding record is now at 348 rebounds. …
Campbell had her ninth season double-double.
BOXSCORE
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the large HCC crowd in
attendance …
“It was a great crowd. It
was a great crowd for Hutchinson. The fans came over from Hutch and gave the
girls a lot of support. The girls really deserved it.”
On Brittney Chamberlin …
It was a big lift for our
team when Brittany Chamberlin came in the game and made some perimeter
baskets. She made some big shots.
On Brittany Hines …
“Brittany did a great job of
attacking. She fits so well with this game because she is so good in the
open floor. She made some plays that were very unselfish. She got us settled
down and played like a sophomore.”
On his thoughts of
winning Region VI …
“I’m just proud to be a part
of this group. You have to give coach Lexee and Coach Kirk a lot of credit
for how this team has evolved. You have players who have really developed
skill-wise. Our chemistry on the floor has improved throughout the year.”
Sophomore Brittany Hines
Comparing winning Region
VI to the 4A state title she won in high school …
“The feeling is a lot better
because we’ve really stepped up at the end of the season to our potential.
Back then, we weren’t expected to win. I guess we weren’t this time either,
but we’ve earned a lot of respect from a lot of people and it’s just a great
feeling.”
Freshman Ariella McGhee
On playing Seward County
for a third time …
“We both knew what each
other was going to do. It was just a matter of we had to play harder and at
the end, who was ever tougher was going to win.”
Freshman Brittney
Chamberlin
On her thoughts of
winning Region VI …
“It was relief and
excitement. They kept battling back and I thought our team did a great job
of playing with heart and intensity. Everyone stepped up and played great
and helped in some way." |
