Flanked by assistant coach Timeka O’Neal, left, and head coach Joe McKinstry, sophomores Hannah Valentine, second left, and Aliyah Myers are the only departures from the 2021 KCKCC women’s basketball team. (KCKCC photo)
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information
While the end of Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women’s basketball season didn’t come until the national tournament, the fate of Blue Devils may have been decided four weeks earlier.
On the final play of the first half of KCKCC’s game against Fort Scott March 13, guard Hannah Valentine crashed to the floor with a season-ending leg injury. The Blue Devils’ leading scorer and rebounder,
Valentine’s loss was further compounded in the national tournament by an injury that sidelined Mercer Roberts, the season long starter in the middle.
Down two starters, KCKCC was upset by 14th seeded Union County (N.J.) 62-59 in overtime in the first round of the national tournament and then eliminated two games later.
Would Valentine and Mercer have made a difference?
”I believe so but I can’t really say,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “Hannah was our best player the first two weeks. She gave us some consistency and versatility that we really missed when she was gone. And Mercer Roberts started all year long and we only lost two of 22 games. Without her, we lost two of three.”
The Blue Devils finished with a 21-4 record. Two of the losses came in the national tournament; the other two to No. 1 Johnson County, which finished second in the national tournament and a team the Blue Devils defeated 67-59 to win the Plains Regional championship.
“Given the amount of new faces and the level of inexperience, I was very pleased with what this group accomplished,” McKinstry said. “Obviously we wished we had a better final week but you can’t take away from everything we did before that. We came into the regional playing really well, beating Labette on Sophomore Day and again in the regional and then knocking off Johnson County in the championship game. It was the best stretch of basketball we had all season but then we just played awful in the national (27 turnovers and 14 missed free throws).”
With athletes getting an extra year of eligibility, the Blue Devils will have an abundance of experience next season. Only two players will be moving on, Valentine and guard Aliyah Myers, a first team All-Jayhawk and All-Region selection. Named the Jayhawk’s Defensive Player of the Year, Myers led the Blue Devils in steals (80) and assists (120) while second in scoring (13.5) and third in rebounding (5.5). Valentine averaged 13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds, playing in just 14 games.
That leaves 10 players scheduled to return, headed by 5-6 Tiaria Earnest, who was named to the All-Jayhawk and All-Region VI first teams. Earnest averaged 12.5 points but 14.8 in playoff games. She was also second in rebounding (5.6). Also back are guards Faith Putz, who averaged 8.3 points, D,Q, Guillory (8.1), D,J, Guillory (7.2), Lacy Whitcomb (5.4) and Aysia Arrowood (3.3),
Front court returnees include 6-0 Ikia Elam, who averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds; 5-11 Roberts, 5.8 and 4.3; and 6-0 Trinity McDow (3.6 and 3.0) along with 6-1 Jewel Hart, who joined the team just in time to score in double figures in two playoff games. She averaged 7.6 points and 3.9 points after missing three-fourths of the season with an injury.
The returning experience will be significant.
“Only two times can I compare that much experience,” McKinstry said. “The first time in 2015-16 and we won the national championship. The second time in 2018-19 and we won the national championship. But neither of those teams had won a regional championship or been a national tournament qualifier. So this group is way ahead of those teams.”
Kansas COVID-19 deaths now have surpassed 5,000, and flags in Kansas have been lowered to half-staff In their honor through sundown Sunday, May 9.
Gov. Laura Kelly said in a statement that this gesture honors the lives and memories of the 5,016 persons in Kansas who have died from COVID-19.
“We cannot become numb to the significance of this number,” Gov. Kelly said. “That’s 5,000 mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, loved ones and neighbors who we’ve lost to virus-related deaths.
“The best way we can honor their memories is by getting vaccinated and continuing to practice the proper health protocol we know protects our communities from the threat of COVID-19,” Gov. Kelly said.
Deaths are still occurring from COVID-19 in Kansas, but the rate of deaths is down dramatically since last November.
At the University of Kansas Health System, the number of deaths and hospitalizations has decreased in the past few weeks, just as it has in the rest of the country, according to Lance Williamson, infection prevention and control nurse supervisor.
The rates have been reduced especially since the peak in November, Williamson said at the KU Health System news conference on Friday.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer, said there haven’t been as many deaths because there haven’t been as many positive patients.
The reduction in deaths and hospitalizations is a function of the vaccinations, Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said.
He said they are using monoclonal antibodies for those who test positive for COVID-19, within the first seven days.
Only 3 percent of the people who received monoclonal antibodies had to come to the emergency department or be hospitalized, he said. The monoclonal antibodies are available in the infusion clinic and also in the emergency department. There is a system in place to determine who receives the antibodies, he said, and since supplies are now greater, monoclonal antibodies are more available than they were last year.
“If you haven’t been vaccinated and you get sick, get tested, because those antibodies do work,” Dr. Stites said.
Free vaccinations available Saturday at Armory
Free walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations will be available for everyone over age 18 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at the Kansas National Guard Armory, 100 S. 20th St., (near 18th and Ridge), Kansas City, Kansas.
The Health Department will be doing more mobile vaccinations, and people may request vaccines to be given at different sites in the community by going to WycoVaccines.org and clicking on “mobile vaccine request.” People also may request a ride to vaccination sites on the same page.
UG Health Department vaccinations are now open to people from other counties and states. People may walk in for vaccinations or can schedule them.
Those who wish to schedule an appointment may use the Health Department’s self-scheduling tool at WycoVaccines.org and click on a blue button that says, “Click here to schedule an appointment online.” The page is available in Spanish by clicking at the top of the page. Walk-in appointments also are welcome.
Those who don’t have an internet connection may call 3-1-1 or 913-573-5311 for assistance in scheduling their vaccination appointment time and date. To see more information about Health Department vaccinations and next week’s schedule, visit WycoVaccines.org.
Other sites available for vaccination
Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated.
CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/.
Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov.
Case numbers reported
KU Health System reported higher numbers of COVID-19 patients on Friday morning. There were 24 active COVID-19 patients on Friday morning, an increase of four, according to Dr. Hawkinson. Eleven of these were in the intensive care unit, an increase of four from Thursday. Nine patients were on ventilators, an increase of two. There were another nine COVID-19 patients who were still in the hospital but are no longer in the acute phase, no change from Thursday. There was a total of 33 patients, an increase of four from Thursday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 13 COVID-19 cases on Friday, May 7, for a cumulative 18,552 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 292 deaths reported, an increase of one.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 171,602 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Friday, an increase of 193 since Thursday. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 65.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 310,582 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Friday, May 7, an increase of 467 cases since Wednesday, May 5. There were a total cumulative 5,016 deaths reported statewide, an increase of 17. KDHE reported that Johnson County had 58,253 cumulative cases on Friday, an increase of 119 cases since Wednesday. Leavenworth County had 7,224 cumulative cases, an increase of 12 cases since Wednesday. Sedgwick County (the Wichita area) reported 56,475 cumulative cases on Friday, an increase of 114 cases since Wednesday
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Friday night reported 32,651,025 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 580,886 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 47,366 new cases nationwide and 789 new deaths nationwide. States with the highest number of new cases were Florida, 4,504; Michigan, 4,113; Pennsylvania, 3,273; Texas, 2,714; New York, 2,643. Countries with the highest number of new cases were India, 414,188; Brazil, 73,380; U.S., 47,366; Argentina, 24,086; and Turkey, 22,388.
One of the sites for free COVID-19 testing is open beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 8, at Lowe’s at 6920 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. The tests are through WellHealth. Appointments are required. For more information, to see other testing sites and to make an appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.
All-Jayhawk and All-Region VI first team selections, KCKCC sophomore guards Tiaira Earnest, left, and Aliyah Myers, right, flanked Hannah Valentine, the Blue Devils’ leading scorer and rebounder who was named to the All-Jayhawk third team although missing the final 11 games. (KCKCC photo)
Kansas City Kansas Community College sophomore Aliyah Myers is the Defensive Player of the Year and, with teammate Tiaira Earnest, a member of the first All-Kansas Jayhawk Division II women’s basketball team for 2021. The two Blue Devils were also named to the All-Region VI first team.
A third Blue Devil, sophomore Hannah Valentine, was named to the All-KJCCC third team in a vote of conference coaches who could not vote for members of their own team.
The trio led the Blue Devils to the NJCAA Division II national tournament for the third time in six years by handing No. 1 ranked Johnson County its first defeat in the Plains Regional championship game. JCCC would go on to finish runnerup to Parkland in the national tournament while the Blue Devils finished 21-4 with two losses to JCCC and two in the national tournament.
A 5-7 guard from Derby, Myers led the Jayhawk Conference in steals with 74, an average of 3.5 per game, and also in assists with 120, an average of 5.0 per contest.
“Extremely happy that the other coaches recognized what Alliyah met to our team,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “She is the most complete guard we have had in my tenure.” Myers also finished second in scoring (13.5) and was third in rebounding (5.5).
Earnest, a 5-6 sophomore from Detroit, finished second in steals with 42 despite missing the Blue Devils’ first 11 games because of injury.
She averaged a team high 14.8 points a game in conference play and 12.5 for the season. Despite her lack of size, she was second in rebounding with 5.6 per game. She had a career high 30 points against Fort Scott, the most points scored by a Blue Devil in McKinstry’s six years at KCKCC.
“Tiaira really elevated her game from her freshman to sophomore season,” McKinstry said. “Her speed and athleticism were very hard to defend and combined with her shooting ability and defense made her a huge weapon for our program.”
Valentine, a 5-9 sophomore from Platte County, led the Blue Devils in scoring with a 13.6 average but missed the last 11 games including the playoffs and national tournament because of a leg injury. She also led the team in rebounds (6.5) and field goal shooting, knocking down 75 of 125 shots for 60 percent.
“One of our most consistent players since day one, Hannah was a great addition to our program this year and very deserving of being recognized as one of the top players in our conference,” McKinstry said. “Our leading scorer prior to her injury and the conference leader in field goal percentage, she is going to do big things wherever she lands next season.”
Myers and Earnest were joined on the first team by Jaylen Townsend and Lajahda Boyland of Johnson County, Jayla Smith of Labette and Leikyn Walker of Fort Scott.
Townsend, who led JCCC in scoring (14.6) was named the conference’s Most Valuable Player while Walker is the first Fort Scott player to be named Freshman of the Year after leading the conference in scoring (19.5). Veteran Ben Conrad of JCCC was named Coach of the Year.
