Hutch overpowers Busters

Men’s Highlights: GCCC vs. Hutch

Hutchinson, Kan (westernkansasnews.com)-The experts probably weren’t surprised to see Hutch with an 18-point lead midway through the second half. But they were all probably stunned when that lead evaporated over the next nine minutes. 

All-American Kadeem Allen scored 22 points and the Dragons hit 32-of-41 free throws to hold off the pesky Busters 82-77 Wednesday night at the Sports Arena. 

“We’ve watched Hutch enough this year,” Head Coach Brady Trenkle said after the game. “Down 13 at half-we knew we could give ourselves a chance. Even when we were down 18, you never saw our guys rattled one single bit.”

Things looked pretty bleak at the under 10-minute timeout with the Busters trailing 63-48. But Jade Cathy and company had other ideas. The sophomore’s driving layup following a Dragon turnover, cut the Hutch lead to 63-50. Then came Jeremy Wilson’s dunk on a lob from Keegan Oyugi that trimmed the deficit to nine. It was just the second time since midway through the first half that Garden City (14-4, 0-2) had been that close. 

Even a technical foul on Wilson that helped pad the Dragon lead to 16 with under six minutes to play didn’t deter the Buster comeback; it only added to the drama. 

Jeremy Wilson’s tap back at the four-minute mark, cut the the Hutch lead to nine. Following a Steve Eck timeout, Wilson went back to work on the offensive glass, cleaning up a Jalen Variste miss. Things got even more interesting when June Johnson grabbed a rare Allen misfire and found Cathy streaking to the rim for and one. 

Garden City had a golden chance after Cathy missed the free throw and Tiodell Pierre grabbed the offensive rebound. But Johnson missed a wide-open three form the wing and Hutch’s Austin Budke was fouled on the rebound attempt. The freshman from Beloit hit two free throws and Hutch (16-2, 2-0) had a 77-70 lead with two minutes to play. 

On the Busters next possession, Cathy split a pair of free throws, but grabbed his own rebound, laid the ball in softly off glass and drew the foul. Down four, Cathy clanked the free shot off the front rim. But a subsequent Hutch turnover led to a Johnson driving layup, which cut the lead to two with 1:28 to go. That’s as close as Garden City would get.

With the shot clock winding down on their next possession, the Busters forced Nathan Jackson into a missed fallaway jumper, but Coreontae Deberry grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled. Then Garden City watched as the sophomore calmly sank two free throws to give Hutch a four-point lead. Allen would sink a pair just seconds later, and No.12 Hutch halted a furious rally. 

“I’m very proud of these guys,” Trenkle said. “I almost feel like we won this game.”

Cathy led Garden City with 20 points and six rebounds. Jeremy Wilson added 17. 

Final Stats: GCCC men vs. Hutch

Women’s Highlights: GCCC vs. Hutch

Hutchinson, Kan (westernkansasnews.com-Garden City Coach Nick Salazar said his team wasn’t afraid of anyone. That might be true, but other teams need to take notice: Hutch is really good. 

Kalani Purcell scored a team-high 16 points to lead five women in double figures as the third-ranked Lady Blue Dragons stormed to a 77–43 victory over the Busters Wednesday night at the Sports Arena. 

“Hutch is a tremendous team,” Salazar said afterwards. “I told a lot of people that their offense wasn’t what scared it; it was their defense.”

That defense stifled the Busters into 24 percent shooting. They also forced 21 Garden City turnovers. 

The one thing the Dragons could not stop was Shaqunna Collins. The sophomore provided the only life to a Buster offense that scored just 21 points in the first half and 22 in the second. In fact she outscored the rest of her team 22-21. 

Shakira Harding had 11 for Hutch (16-0, 2-0) and Jamie Patrick, Briana Starks and Jen’Von’Ta Hill each chipped in 10. 

Final Stats: GCCC women vs. Hutch