by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Talk about offensive balance: five Kansas City Kansas Community College starters combined for 56 points Monday, reserves scored 57 in the Lady Blue Devils 113-51 cruise past Missouri Valley junior varsity.
The win improved the No. 5 ranked Blue Devils’ record to 17-2 heading into their final non-conference test against Southeast Nebraska Thursday at 5 p.m.
Originally scheduled for Friday night, the game was moved up one night to avoid the possibility of inclement weather. Thursday’s game will be followed by a men’s game against Saint Mary junior varsity at 7 p.m.
Seven Blue Devils scored in double figures, two others had eight points as every Blue Devil had scored by halftime Monday.
Caroline Hoppock and Nija Collier came off the bench to lead KCKCC offensively. Hoppock had a career high 18 points, drained 4-of-7 3-pointers, grabbed six rebounds and had three assists while Collier had 17 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals in just 15 minutes.
All five starters scored in double figures – Lillie Moore, Camryn Swanson and Lenaejha Evans each had 12 points; Caitlyn Stewart and Kisi Young 10 apiece. Young also had nine rebounds and Moore seven. Stewart and Evans led in assists with a half-dozen each while Stewart matched Collier with five steals.
Freshmen Brodi Byrd and Carson Chandler chipped in with eight points apiece. Playing in only her third game since becoming eligible the second semester, the eight points were the first for Chandler, a 5-8 guard from Sarcoxie, Missouri, who was 2-for-3 from 3-point. KCKCC finished with a dozen treys including four each from Swanson and Hoppock.
“It was nice to see Caroline Hoppock shoot the ball with confidence along with six rebounds and Carson Chandler did a very good job for having not played in a year and a half,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “It’s not always that easy joining a team of this caliber.”
Although leading 60-26 at halftime, KCKCC had only a 23-17 rebound advantage. Challenged by McKinstry at halftime, the Blue Devils’ 30 second half rebounds included 19 off the offensive board and 26 for the game. Collier had eight and Young seven as KCKCC won the rebounding 53-28.
“I was really proud that we had 31 assists for the game and only four turnovers the first half (11 total),” McKinstry said. “We did a good job of taking care of the ball the first half. While there was not a lot of challenge to winning the game, the challenge was to stay disciplined in doing what needed to be done. It’s easy to let things get away with poor shot selection and bad passes with a big lead but I felt we did a good job of staying focused.”
