HCC Sports Information

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Defense set the tone for the 20th-ranked Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team against Weatherford College as the Blue Dragons completed an undefeated run through the Grand Prairie Hotel Classic on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

HCC held Weatherford to less then 30-percent shooting in the second half and cruised to a 97-68 victory over the Coyotes.

“The guys played hard and they did a good job defensively,” HCC head coach Ryan Swanson said. “Anytime you can hold a team as good as that to under 30 percent in the second half, you are going to have a chance. We have guys who can make plays offensively. Our defense was the reason why we were able to pull away.”

Hutchinson (5-0) led 45-34 at halftime, but locked down defensively on Weatherford (2-3) in the final 20 minutes. The Dragon defense limited Weatherford to 29.7 percent (11 of 37) in the second half, and to just 1 of 16 from long range.

HCC, meanwhile, shot 51.5 percent (17 of 33) in the second half and outscored the Coyotes 52-34.

“Our coaches have us a pretty good philosophy defensively,” freshman Tom Shirley said. “We had to guard really well and that would set the tone for the whole game. We did what they asked and it showed in the score.”

A host of Blue Dragon defenders helped clamp down on Kendall Durant, one of Weatherford’s top offensive threats. Durant was limited to 3 of 11 shooting and just seven points.

Offensively, sophomore Cliff Dixon had a double-double and led five Blue Dragons in double figures with 17 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Shirley hit 8 of 11 shots overall and finished with a season-high 19 points and five rounds. Darius Johnson-Odom had another solid all-around game with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Sophomore Devon McBride finished with 13 points and redshirt-freshman Javari Williams had 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

“We are going to be a very unselfish team this year,” Shirley said.

The Blue Dragons shot better than 50 percent for the second time in three Grand Prairie Classic games, shooting 55.2 percent (37 of 67). HCC opened the game shooting a blistering 58.8 percent in the second half (20 of 34). HCC was 5 of 14 from 3-point range and 18 of 31 from the free-throw line.

The Dragons dominated the boards, outrebounding the Coyotes 54-34.

Weatherford was 24 of 68 shooting (35.3 percent) and 4 of 26 from long range. Marcus Brister had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead Weatherford. Tyler Hull had 13 points.

“They shot 42 percent in the first half. We didn’t do a very good job on ball screens,” Swanson said. “We made some adjustments late in the first half, which helped us defensively. They weren’t able to get into the lane as much. A number of guys did a very good job on limiting Durant. Anytime you can take the other team’s best offensive player and limit their touches, that’s going to help a lot.”

It didn’t take long for HCC to take command of the game, opening on a 17-5 run in the first 5 minutes, 40 seconds. HCC led 21-5 after a Dixon 3-pointer.

Weatherford pulled within four points twice after that, getting within 31-27 after a Durrant bucket with 5:06 to play in the half.  But Hutch went on a 14-7 run to close the half and lead 45-34.

The Dragons went on a 20-4 run over the first 6:09 of the second half to blow the game open. A Dominique Rutledge hoop with 13:51 to play gave HCC a 65-38 lead.

HCC’s largest lead of the second half was 30 points.

The Blue Dragons travel to Allen County on Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

  

HCC-WEATHERFORD BOXSCORE

FORT SCOTT-STERLING JV BOXSCORE

HCC-WEATHERFORD PHOTO GALLERY

 

OTHER QUOTES

Head Coach Ryan Swanson

On Tom Shirley …

“Tom’s a great player. He’s a glue guy. He’s very smart, but at the same time, he will do whatever you ask him to do. He’s very capable offensively. He’s never going to force a bad shot. His teammates found him tonight in places where he could score. He had a very efficient night.”

 

Freshman Tom Shirley

On the second-half defense …

“We had to keep going on the defense. The big thing was to keep the intensity up. We wanted to show them that we were going to keep it and when you do that, teams will give up.”