Hutch men hit the glass; women destroyed at home
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-In the Junior College ranks, there’s a steep learning curve for most teams; especially when it comes to finishing games. Garden City is finding that out the hard way.
DeShawn Freeman scored 22 points, and Austin Budke recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds as No. 8 Hutchinson overcame a slow start to slide past the Busters 69-60 Monday night at the Perryman Athletic Complex.
“We haven’t figured out how to win yet,” Head Coach Brady Trenkle said afterwards. “We knew how to 10 games ago. I don’t know what has happened since.”
This much was certain: it wasn’t for a lack of energy or effort. Despite playing their second game in 48 hours, Garden City (11-5, 0-2) built an early 19-12 advantage-following the lead of Tyrell Springer and Myreek Fowlkes. But the attack-minded Blue Dragons never blinked-storming back on the heels of a 23-7 run to take a 35-26 advantage with 2:50 left in the half.
“We came out strong,” Trenkle said. “We just couldn’t sustain it. You could see that our legs were tired in our jump shots.”
One guy that seemed refreshed was Fowlkes, who scored 10 first-half points, including a layup with less than a minute to play in the period that sliced the Hutchinson (14-1, 1-0) lead to two. After Richie Spiller split a pair of free throws to narrow the deficit to one, the Blue Dragons answered resoundingly with Freeman hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key, over Tidell Pierre as the halftime buzzer sounded. The backbreaking bucket gave Hutchinson a 38-34 lead at the intermission.
“Their prayer was answered,” Trenkle said. “On more than one occasion tonight it was answered.”
Garden City kept it close in the second half, tying the game on four different occasions and taking a brief one-point edge. But the Blue Dragons answered every rally with a run of their own, using a decisive advantage on the glass to halt every Buster run. Hutchinson grabbed 18 offensive boards and outrebounded Garden City 48-34.
Then there were the miscues in the second half, such as a three-on-one break that resulted in no points. Or the pointblank, missed layup by Springer that would have cut the Hutchinson lead to three in the final five minutes. Those mishaps compounded by Davon Anderson’s 2-of-12 shooting night proved too much to overcome.
Anderson finished with just seven points. Springer paced the busters with 16, and Fowlkes chipped in 12.
Akbar Hoffman scored 14 points for Hutch, including a dagger three in the final minute that sealed the win for the Blue Dragons. Bashier Ahmed grabbed 12 rebounds.
Tip ins: It’s the second straight year the Busters have started 0-2 in conference play…Hutch won their 13th straight game…Garden City has shot under 40 percent in three out of their last five games…Hutch won for just the fourth time in their last 13 games at the DPAC
Next up: at Barton County-Wednesday, January 7-7:30 p.m. on AM 1030 KBUF; kbufmobile.com and mobile app: KBUF
Purcell and company too much; Hutch blows out Garden City
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-When it’s all said and done, the game tape from January 5, 2015 is one that Garden City Head Coach Nick Salazar might want to flip right into the garbage disposal.
BYU-commit Kalani Purcell abused Garden City for 40 minutes, notching her 32nd career double-double with 19 points and a game-best 16 rebounds to lead five Hutchinson players in double figures as the Lady Blue Dragons stampeded past the Busters 96-43 Monday night at the Perryman Athletic Complex.
“We were terrible,” Salazar said afterwards. “I don’t know what’s happened to Loysha (Morris); what’s happened to Taleah (Williams). But everyone has been terrible.”
Morris couldn’t break out of a shooting funk that’s seen her misfire on 13 out of 15 shots since conference play began Saturday at Butler. Meantime Williams was invisible for most of the night, finishing with 8 points on just 3-of-9 from the field.
“Those two have to figure it out,” Salazar said. “All of us have to figure it out.”
One player who had it all figured out was Purcell, who kept attacking the basket at will, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the first 20 minutes. Her 16 rebounds was one shy of tying her career high.
After the Busters tied the game at 8, Purcell and company turned on the jets-closing the first half on a 34-17 run to take a 42-25 advantage into the locker room.
“You just can’t make mistakes against that team,” Salazar said. “And we made way too many. Whether it was a bad pass or an ill-advised shot; all of it is exemplified when you play a team like Hutch.”
Hutchinson (15-0, 1-0) forced 20 Garden City turnovers, allowing last year’s national runner-up to build their lead up to as many as 54 points with one minute to play in the game.
Cynthia Petke scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Lady Blue Dragons. Taylor Jones and Clemence LeFebvre also scored 16, while Alyx Bloom netted 12 points and dished out four assists.
Bianca Cage made her first start for Garden City; she finished with 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting. She hit her first two shots before missing nine out of her next 13. Tori Spann added 11 points and nine boards.
Tip ins: The 53-point loss to Hutch ties the most lopsided margin in the series (Hutch beat Garden City 100-47 on January 18, 1980)…It’s the second straight game Garden City has shot under 30 percent…The Busters are 4-of-30 from downtown in their last two games…There were three ties in the first 10 minutes…The 43 points was a season low and only the second time this year that the Busters been held under 40 points
Next up: at Barton-Wednesday, January 7—5:15 p.m. pregame; 5:30 p.m. tip on AM 1030 KBUF; kbufmobile.com and mobile app: KBUF
