HUTCHINSON, Kan. (BlueDragonSports.com) – Powered by sophomore Hailey Jackson‘s eighth double-double of the season and another stellar overall defensive performance, Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball head coach John Ontjes reached a milestone win on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.
The No. 1-ranked Blue Dragons held Seward County 28 points under its season scoring average to defeat the Saints 52-40 as Ontjes captured career coaching win No. 500.
The Blue Dragons (17-0, 11-0 KJCCC) extended their win streak to 54 games, KJCCC win streak to 37 games, home-court win streak to 25 games and earned a sixth-consecutive victory over the Saints. Hutchinson now travels to play No. 3 Dodge City at 1 p.m. Saturday in Dodge City. Seward County fell to 11-6 overall and 6-5 in the league.
Ontjes became just the second Jayhawk Conference coach to reach 500 career wins, joining Cloud County’s Brett Erkenbrack (750 wins), doing so in his 596th game coached. With a career mark at Hutchinson of 500-96, Ontjes became the 15th active NJCAA Division I coach and 33rd all-time Division I coach to reach 500 wins. He is the 44th all-time NJCAA coach (counting all three divisions) to reach that milestone.
Ontjes’ defense kept the Blue Dragons close early after the Hutchinson offense sputtered early. The Blue Dragons didn’t score for the first 5 minutes, 49 seconds of the game, but trailed only 4-0.
The Blue Dragon defense continued to lock down the Saints, who shot 30.9 percent (17 of 56), including 1 of 15 from the 3-point line and 5 of 6 from the foul line. The Saints committed 13 turnovers.
Jackson sparked the Blue Dragon offense with five points in the first quarter to finish with game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jackson was 7 of 11 shooting with a 3-pointer and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line.
Jackson moved into 25th place on the Blue Dragon career scoring list with 785 points.
Sophomore Madi Denison had 10 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. Denison was 3 of 6 from the field and 4 of 6 at the line.
Sophomore Jada Pleasant also reached double figures with 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting with a 3-pointer. Pleasant also had seven rebounds.
Sophomore Brynne Katcher finished with six points. Sophomore Landon Forbes tied a career high seven assists and added six rebounds.
The Blue Dragons shot 40.4 percent for the game (19 of 47), going 3 of 15 from the free-throw line and 11 of 15 from the foul line. The Dragons out-rebounded Seward County 37-29 with 15 turnovers.
Ari Gordon scored 15 points to lead Seward County. Kylee Hunt had nine points and Avery Marchino had eight points.
Hutchinson was only 3 of 13 shooting in the first quarter. The Dragons finally scored their first points when Denison scored in the paint with 4:11 left to cut the Saint lead to 4-2. The Dragons tied the game on a Jackson drive to the hop with 1:56 left and took a 7-4 lead on a Jackson 3-pointer with 1:24 left. The Saints snapped a dry spell of 6 minutes, 12 seconds with a Hunt bucket with 15 seconds remaining to cut the Dragon lead to 7-6.
The Blue Dragons trailed 12-11 with 5:24 to play when the offense started to get going. Katcher scored inside to give the Dragons the lead for good at 13-12. That started a 10-4 Dragon run over the remainder of the half. Jackson’s free throw with 1:11 to play gave the Dragons a 19-14 lead. Her transition layup with 19 seconds to play gave the Dragons a 21-15 lead at halftime.
Seward County pulled within 23-22 with 6:40 to play in the third quarter, but the Blue Dragons took control of the game with a 15-3 run over the next 4:34. Pleasant had six points and Jackson had five points in the run. Jackson’s three-point play with 2:06 left in the period capped the run giving the Dragons a 38-25 lead. The Saints scored the final four points of the period to pull within 38-29 after three quarters.
Forbes’ 3-point basket to start the fourth quarter pushed the Dragon lead back to double figures, where it stayed for the remainder of the game. A Pleasant pull-up jumper with 4:59 left gave the Dragons their largest lead of 16 points at 47-31.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 54-50 all-time against Seward County, including 29-20 at the Sports Arena. … The 40 points allowed were the fourth fewest points allowed in series history. … The 40 points allowed were the fourth fewest allow by the Blue Dragons this season. … This was the second time this season the Dragons held an opponent to one 3-point goal. … This was the 14th time this season the Dragons held an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting. … This was Hailey Jackson‘s seventh 20-point game this season and 11th of her career. … Landon Forbes reached five or more assists for the sixth time this season.
