Month: February 2021

Lady Blue Devils roll 94-44 as highest scoring team in nation

Metropolitan’s Arrianna Smith could only wave goodbye as KCKCC’s Aliayh Myers put up a shot in the Blue Devils’ 94-44 win Tuesday. Myers had game highs of 19 points, six rebounds and eight assists. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

The beat goes on for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s high-geared women’s basketball team.

The highest scoring NJCAA Division II team in the nation, the unbeaten and No. 6 ranked Blue Devils literally raced to a 94-44 win over Metropolitan Community College Tuesday night.

It was the seventh straight win for KCKCC, which leads the nation in total points, field goals and games played and is second in scoring average (87.7) and steals and third in assists. In all, KCKCC ranks in the Top 10 in 11 categories.

The Blue Devils never trailed Metropolitan in scoring 90 or more points for the fourth time this season.

Capitalizing on 38 Wolves turnovers, the Blue Devils time and again beat Metro’s defense down the floor for layups. Leading 24-10 after one quarter and 42-21 at the half in which reserves combined for 20 points, KCKCC poured in 34 points in the third quarter in shooting 63.2 percent.

Eleven Blue Devils scored, eight with seven or more points. Aliyah Myers led the way with 19 points, 13 in the first half; six rebounds and eight assists, all game highs.

Tiaira Earnest and DeQuaria Guillory added 12 points each, Ikla Elam and Trinity McDow 9, Mercer Roberts 8 and Faith Putz and Lacy Whitcomb 7. De’Jaria Guillory led in steals with six; Earnest in assists with four.

“Obvious Aliyah Myers was fantastic the first half,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “Leading the nation in steals coming into the game, she was credited with only one but she does so much more than she’s credited for. She is our motor and gets us going.

“But we had some other good performance. De’Jaria Guillory gave us a huge energy boost when she got in the first quarter and jump-started us with six steals. Ikla Elam gave us big boost in the second quarter. And while we don’t have a dominant post player, our what I call a ‘three-headed’ monster of Mercer Roberts, Trinity McDow and Elam gave us 26 points and 11 rebounds from the post position. It’s great to have their depth and they all bring something different to the table.”

McKinstry was equally happy with the defense.

“Forcing 38 turnovers with no full court press, just man-to-man half court was fantastic,” he said. “This is the best guard talent I’ve had.”

Unless McKinstry is able to add another game, the Blue Devils are now idle until a week from Thursday (Feb. 18), a return battle with Metropolitan on the Penn Valley campus.

Surrounded by three Metropolitan defenders, freshman Ikla Elam looked for an escape route in KCKCC’s 94-44 win Tuesday. Elam had nine points and five rebounds in just 10 minutes. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

Police notes

Shots fired at victim on South Mill Street

Shots were fired at a victim on South Mill Street around 6:47 a.m. Feb. 9, according to a social media report by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

The victim was not injured, according to the report. The victim stated that two suspects came to his residence, and an argument took place, the report stated.

During the argument, one of the suspects pulled out a handgun and shot at the victim, according to the report.

Both suspects fled before police arrived, the report stated.

Victim threatened with knives on Orville Avenue

At 12:29 a.m. Feb. 9 in the 2900 block of Orville Avenue, a victim was threatened by a suspect who charged at the victim with two knives, according to a social media post by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department.

The victim had stepped outside the residence when the victim encountered the suspect, who charged with two knives, the report stated.

The victim went back inside and was not injured, according to the report. Officers located the suspect, and took the suspect into custody, the report stated.

Business fined $30,000 in consent agreement on alleged counterfeit vaping products

A Wyandotte County business has been ordered to pay $30,000 in penalties for allegedly selling counterfeit e-cigarette products, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today.

Vinodbhai Patel, operator of Jay Ganesh, LLC, and the company were ordered to pay $30,000 in civil penalties in a consent judgment approved Tuesday in Wyandotte County District Court by Judge Constance Alvey. The defendants also were ordered to reimburse $1,912.50, the cost of the attorney general’s investigation into their business practices.

Patel is a resident of Johnson County, and the business is located in Bonner Springs, according to court documents.

The attorney general alleged that the defendants knowingly misled consumers by falsely representing e-cigarette products to be authentic branded merchandise when in fact they were not. The alleged counterfeit products involved in this case included vaping devices and vaping liquids.

In the consent judgment, the defendants did not admit that there was a violation of the Kansas Consumer Protection Act.

The consumer-protection judgment is the third reached by Schmidt’s office in the past six months addressing counterfeit e-cigarette products discovered by the attorney general’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit.

In September 2020, Veneeth Kanti, Gayatri Kanti and Morani, Inc., doing business as Logan 66, were ordered to pay $7,500 in civil penalties and the costs of the attorney general’s investigation in a case filed in Franklin County.

In October 2020, Aaron Dune and Smoke Stax, LLC, were ordered to pay $5,000 in civil penalties and the costs of the attorney general’s investigation in a case filed in Sedgwick County.

Additional investigations into counterfeit vaping products remain pending, according to the attorney general’s office. Copies of the consent judgments can be found at www.InYourCornerKansas.org/judgments.