By Steve Carpenter

HCC Sports Information Director

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Sophomore Devon McBride had 23 points to lead five Blue Dragons in double figures as the No. 20 Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team trounced the Sterling College Junior Varsity 102-45 in the opening night of the Grand Prairie Hotel Classic on Thursday night at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons (3-0) were dominant from the opening tip, shooting a season-high 60 percent from the field (39 of 55), while holding the Warriors to 35.3 percent from the floor (18 of 51) and forcing 31 Sterling turnovers.

Ten of 11 Blue Dragons scored in the game, which was the 11th-largest margin of victory in HCC history (57 points). This was the largest blowout on the Warriors in series history.

McBride set the pace by shooting 8 of 13 overall and was 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Sophomore Cliff Dixon had 18 points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Darius Johnson-Odom had 15 points, five assists and three steals. Redshirt freshman Javari Williams and freshman Dominique Rutledge, who was playing in his first collegiate game, had 10 points each. Williams also had four rebounds and a game-high five steals.

“I’m almost 100 percent,” said Rutledge about battling back from his injury. “It felt good getting out there. First half, I wasn’t good, but I was getting it back. I was just getting the feel of the game. Everything worked out in the second half.”

Sophomore Austin Bond knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and finished with nine points. Freshman Tom Shirley finished with five points, but had a game-high nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Freshman Lazarius Johnson had nine assists and four steals.

“It’s very fun,” Williams said of the blowout victory. “It brings good team unity. Everybody is comfortable and everybody is enjoying it.”

HCC knocked down a season-high 10 3-point goals on 22 attempts. The Dragons struggled for the second-straight game from the free-throw line, going 14 of 29.

The Dragons had a season-high 27 assists on 39 made baskets and defensively had a season-high 18 steals.

Sterling (0-3) hit 4 of 13 3-point goals and was just 5 of 10 from the free-throw line. Ryan Felder had 11 points to lead the Warriors, which had 31 turnovers.

The Warriors scored the first points of the game on a Brian Boarman bucket, but HCC quickly ran off 15 unanswered points over the next four minutes to take command.  The Dragons also had an 11-0 run in a first half where they shot 57.1 percent from the field (20 of 35).

A Rutledge bucket with 5:23 left gave HCC its largest first-half lead of 40-10. Hutch led 49-21 at halftime.

The Dragons shot even better in the second half, shooting 63.3 percent (19 of 30). A 12-0 to start the second half pushed the lead to 40 points for the first time at 61-21 with 17:09 to play. HCC’s largest lead of the second half was 58 points.

Hutchinson will play Jayhawk East opponent Fort Scott on Night No. 2 of the Grand Prairie Hotel Classic. Fort Scott lost to Weatherford College 82-81 in the first game on Thursday night.

GAME NOTES – This was the 157th 100-point game in HCC basketball history. … The previous largest margin of victory was 53 points in 2006. … This is the second time that HCC has scored 100 or more points in series history. … HCC scored 48 points of Sterling turnovers. … HCC’s bench outscored Sterling’s 38-28. … HCC outscored Sterling 53-24 in the second half.

 

BOXSCORE

WEATHERFORD-FORT SCOTT BOXSCORE

HCC-STERLING PHOTO GALLERY

 

OTHER QUOTES

Head Coach Ryan Swanson

On calling a second-half timeout to correct the level of play by his reserves …

“No matter who is in the game, we cannot turn down any opportunity to get better. Even though the game was over as far as the outcome and who is going to win, those guys in the game at the end, those are guys I’m counting on to get better and contribute. At no time during do I want them to let up on their effort or mental concentration.”

 

On how they responded to that timeout …

“They responded. They are good kids and they want to do well. They need to know that I don’t care what the score is or how much time is in the game, we are going to attempt to play good, hard-nosed, fundamental ball. I thought we slipped away from that for a couple of minutes and I just needed to remind them that they were trying to get better and earn more minutes and they responded.”

 

On Dominique Rutledge’s first game …

“Dominique was very nervous. It was his first collegiate game and it showed in the first half. He fumbled some balls he would usually catch and missed shots he would usually make. He did a lot better in the second half and showed some glimpses of what he could be in the next two years.”

 

Redshirt freshman Javari Williams

On that second-half timeout …

“It shows how good of a coach he is because he wants us to get better every play, every possession of every game no matter how much we are up.”

 

On staying focused in a blowout game …

“We handled the focus pretty well. Our coach isn’t going to tolerate anything less than 100 percent from us.”

 

 

Freshman Dominique Rutledge

On that second-half timeout …

“He pretty much chewed us out. No matter who we play, we had to finish the game and we weren’t doing that.”

 

On the blowout victory …

“It’s definitely fun. We get a chance to work on some things so we are prepared for better teams.”