by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Blue Devils dug themselves a hole from which they could not escape in a 69-61 loss to No. 3 ranked Highland Saturday.
Leading 38-30 at the half, the Scotties (21-2) outscored the Blue Devils 18-1 to start the second half for a 66-31 lead and then held off a valiant KCKCC comeback.
Still down 62-47 with 4½ minutes left, the Blue Devils cut the lead to 64-59 with a minute remaining and had a chance to get even closer only to have Highland’s Taiveyhon Mason swipe an errant KCKCC in-bounds pass and convert it into a layup and free throw for a game-clinching 67-59 lead with 34 seconds to go.
“We still have some learning to do, especially our discipline and composure,” KCKCC coach Kelley Newton said. The loss was only the second in the last seven starts for the Blue Devils (10-14).
Three-point field goals by Taylor Turner and Jalen Davis ignited the comeback and Daiyon Taylor closed the gap to 64-59 with a layup and two free throws.
Taylor finished with 14 points and a game high eight rebounds while Davis had 11 points and Cody Dortch nine points on three treys.
Jonathan Richmond and Turner each chipped in with six points while Kelyn Bolton had five points, five rebounds and shared the high in assists with Davis and Dortch, each with four. The Blue Devils had 14 assists on 19 field goals.
KCKCC led three times in the first half and the Blue Devils were still close at 35-30 before a late Highland 3-pointer opened the Scotties’ halftime lead to 38-30 and set the stage for the 18-1 run to start the second half.
Otherwise, it was pretty even statistically. Highland had a 31-29 edge in rebounding, made one less turnover (15-14) and was 25-of-53 for 47.2 percent to 19-of-46 for KCKCC (.423).
Mason had 21 points to lead Highland, which had nine Scotties score.
