by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Thanks to pressure-packed performances down the stretch, Kansas City Kansas Community College is going to get a third shot at No. 3 ranked Johnson County.
A gutsy 60-54 win at Fort Scott Saturday sends the defending national champions to JCCC Monday at 5:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NJCAA Region VI championship game at Hartman Arena in Park City Wednesday.
It will be the second meeting in six days for the two semifinalists. JCCC pulled away in the second half for a 59-39 win this past Wednesday.
“Except for a six-minute stretch in the third quarter, I thought we defended well,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said of an effort in which the Blue Devils (18-13) held the Lady Cavaliers (28-2) to 20 points under their season average. “Hopefully we can do a better job on the offensive end Monday.”
The Lady Blue Devils used a big third quarter to take control at Fort Scott, outscoring the Greyhounds 25-12 to open up a 51-40 lead. It almost wasn’t enough. Fort Scott went ahead by one but only momentarily midway through the final quarter.
“We gave up the lead but only for about four seconds,” McKinstry said. “Kayla Horn drove to the basket and then kicked the ball out to Millie Shade who knocked down a 3-pointer.”
The Blue Devils never trailed again, thanks to clutch free throws. Brie Tauai made four in a row and Horn one of two as the Blue Devils maintained a two-possession lead the final two minutes.
“We had not done a good job in these situations in the past but we did a great job the last two minutes handling the ball, limiting their rebounds and knocking down free throws,” McKinstry said. “We were fortunate to be down only two (28-26) at halftime because we did not do a very good job of implementing our game plan either on the offensive or defensive end.
“But for the first time in a while we came out the second half with a great deal of energy, something we had not done in a while and outscored Fort Scott 25-12. We also did a better job of rebounding. We were outrebounded by three the first half but out rebounded them by nine the second half.”
Brie Tauai led the Blue Devils with 20 points while Millie Shaded added 16, Brooklyn Wagler eight and Aeriel Holiday seven. Brie also had nine rebounds and Wagler seven as KCKCC won the rebound battle 40-36.
Shade and Kayla Horn also had five assists and Wagler four as the Blue Devils had 16 assists on 19 field goals. Shooting-wise, the two teams were almost dead even – KCKCC 19-of-53 for (.358) and Fort Scott 19-of-54 (.352). The difference was at the free throw line, KCKCC converting 13-of-19 to 5-of-9 for Fort Scott.