NEWS ARTICLE

DRAGON D DISPATCHES GRIZZLIES; HCC ADVANCES TO REGION VI SEMIFINALS

WICHITA – The Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team unleashed its best defensive effort at the most crucial of the season on Thursday in the Region VI Tournament semifinals at Charles Koch Arena.

Playing each other in the postseason for the first time since the 1997 Region VI championship game on the very same floor, the Blue Dragons held archrival Butler to the lowest point total they have surrendered all season and held the Grizzlies to just 34.4 percent from the field in the second half to advance to the Region VI semifinals with a 71-61 victory.

Hutchinson (25-7) advances to the Region VI semifinals at 5 p.m. on Friday in the first of two men’s semifinal games. The Blue Dragons will take on non-Jayhawk Conference opponent Northwest Kansas Tech, which defeated top-seeded Independence 97-92 in triple overtime on Thursday.

Tied at 34-all at halftime – the first half featured 13 lead changes and six ties – the Blue Dragons scored the first six and 12 of the first 14 points of the second half. From there, the Blue Dragons rode the wave of their sharpest defensive effort of the season.

HCC held Butler to just 11 of 32 shooting in the second half, just two buckets from 3-point range in outscoring the Grizzles 37-27 in the final 20 minutes, the 27 points were the fewest allowed by the Blue Dragons this season. For the game, HCC held Butler to 39.3 percent (24 of 61), just 5 of 21 from 3-point range and 8 of 12 from the foul line.

Hutchinson held an opponent to less than 70 points for the first time since Independence on Dec. 17, a span of 19 games.

A pair of Blue Dragons had double-doubles to lead the Blue Dragons into their 37th Region VI semifinal appearance.

All-American Kadeem Allen had his eighth double-double of the season and ninth of his career with 21 points and 10 assists. Allen had 13 first-half points, but seven second half assists. Allen also had six rebounds and two steals.

Allen moved into third place on Hutchinson’s career scoring list with 1,397 points. He is also No. 3 on the Blue Dragon single-season scoring list with 826 points. He moved into second place on the career assists list with 313 assists.

Sophomore Darrick Wood became the sixth Blue Dragon this season with a double-double, posting the first of his career with 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Wood had eight points and six rebounds in the Dragon second-half surge.

Freshman DeShawn Freeman had 16 points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists in a stellar defensive effort. Sophomore Coreantae DeBerry finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots.

The Blue Dragons shot 48.3 percent from the field (28 of 58), including 5 of 12 from 3-point range and 10 of 16 from the free-throw line. Hutchinson out-rebounded Butler 41-31. The Blue Dragons tied a season high with 10 blocked shots. HCC turned the ball over 16 times.

Sean Goodwin led the Grizzlies (22-10) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Shomari Triggs had 14 points on 6 of 18 shooting. Bakari Triggs had 12 points on 5 of 12 shootings.

Butler did have three early 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game. The third of those from Bakari Triggs gave the Grizzlies their largest lead of the opening half at 23-19 with 10:10 to play. The Dragons went through a stretch of only two baskets over a 5-minute stretch, but recovered with a Freeman free throw and late a dunk and took a 24-23 lead on a Wood bucket with 6:21 remaining in the first half.

The lead changed hands four more times in the first half. The Dragons shot 48.0 percent to Butler’s 44.8 in the first 20 minutes. The game was tied 34-34 at intermission.

A Nathan Jackson jumper and back-to-back Wood layups boosted the Blue Dragons to their largest lead of the game at 40-34 with 17:51 to play. A Goodwin basket stopped the run, but the Dragons got a Freeman layup, Wood jumper and dunks by DeBerry and Freeman to cap a 12-2 run to start the first half and build a 48-36 lead with 15:04 to play. Two Wood free throws bumped the margin to 52-40 with 11:45 remaining in the half.

The Grizzlies made their run with eight unanswered points, getting a 3-pointer by Dominique O’Conner to pull within 52-46 with 9:34 to go. Allen answered that run with a jumper in the lane, but Trent Richardson dropped a 3-pointer to help Butler close to within 54-49 with 8:48 to play.

Still leading 58-53 with 6:33 to play, the Blue Dragons closed the game with a defensive flourish, holding the Grizzlies to 4 of 13 shooting down the stretch. Back-to-back dunks by Freeman and DeBerry capped the victory as HCC took the season series with the Grizzlies 2-1.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 122-43 all-time in Region competition, going 11-3 vs. Butler. … This was all-time victory No. 1,653for HCC. … Head coach Steve Eck won his 134th game at Hutchinson, three wins shy of Dave Farrar for fifth place on the coaching wins list. … The Blue Dragons are 118-63 all-time vs. Butler. … Kadeem Allen had his ninth career double-double. … The Blue Dragons are 16-3 when out-rebounding an opponent. … This was Kadeem Allen’s fourth 10-assist game of his career. … Sophomore Tafari Whittingham returned after missing 12 games because of injury. … Nathan Jackson tied his career high with three blocked shots.

(HCC Sports Information)