by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College couldn’t overcome Labette’s hot shooting in the second half Wednesday.
Leading 37-33 at halftime, the Cardinals knocked down 14-of-25 second half shots (.560) to turn back every Blue Devil challenge in a 79-71 win in the opening Jayhawk Conference game for both teams in Parsons.
The win boosted Labette’s record to 13-6 while KCKCC fell to 7-12 heading into the Blue Devils’ conference home opener Saturday against Hesston (scheduled women at 2 p.m., men at 4 p.m.).
“We could just never get over the hump,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said. “We would make a run and they would counter with a run.”
Bryson Dennis, a 6-foot freshman guard from Snellville, Georgia, proved to be the biggest thorn in the Blue Devils’ side. Knocking down 10-of-13 shots from the field including 3-of-4 three-pointers, Dennis had a game high 25 points along with five steals and four assists.
“He ran through the gaps on defense to get those five steals which led to runout baskets,” Labette coach Jerrod Stanford said.
Deron McDaniel had 19 points to lead the Blue Devils. Calvin Slaughter added 14, Robert Rhodes 12, DeAngelo Bell 8, Jermaine Yarbough 7, Ezekiel Lopes 6 and Jalen Davis 5. Rhodes had eight rebounds and Slaughter five to lead the Blue Devils.
Defensively, KCKCC limited the Cardinals to 39.5 percent shooting the first half and forced the Cardinals to melt away the shot clock hunting high-quality shots.
“They (KCKCC) did a good job stopping our initial action,” Stanford said. “Our kids had to adjust and make good decisions. We were able to do that and make shots. But KCK did a great job on defense. Thankfully, we were locked in mentally to see the second options and make those plays.”
“We got out-toughed and still had chances to win,” Burgette said. “Just didn’t execute the game plan well enough and turned the ball over a lot.”
The Blue Devils were guilty of 18 turnovers but Labette had 17. Also, the Cardinals had only a 37-36 edge in rebounding.
In the end, KCKCC was 21-of-53 shots for 39.6 percent while the big second half enabled the Cardinals to make 29-of-63 shots for 46 percent. KCKCC converted 24-of-30 free throws (.800) but Labette outscored the Blue Devils 30-15 from 3-point, knocking down 10-of-21 treys (.476) to 5-of-17 for KCKCC (.294).
In other Jayhawk openers Wednesday, Johnson County won 63-55 at Highland while Hesston took a 62-61 heart-stopper at Fort Scott.