by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
No. 2 ranked Kansas City Kansas Community College cleared a major hurdle Saturday heading into the Lady Blue Devils’ defense of the 2019 Jayhawk East championship.
Trailing 42-41 at halftime, the Blue Devils (18-1) took command with a 23-13 third quarter on the way to an 81-71 win over North Central Missouri in Trenton. The win was the 14th in a row heading into opening Jayhawk Conference action at No. 16 ranked Labette Wednesday.
“A great test and a great atmosphere for our girls heading into conference play,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said of Saturday’s win over the Lady Pirates (12-6). “The atmosphere was great and both teams played very hard.”
The Blue Devils got standout performances from a pair of freshmen who combined for 47 points. Kamryn Estell, a 6-1 forward from Belton, had a double-double with 27 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs, while 5-6 Detroit guard Aliyah Myers had 18 points, four rebounds and no turnovers.
“Kamryn Estell played great,” McKinstry said. “NCMC has a lot of length and size and she played as strong as I’ve seen her play all year. Aliyah might not have had the best shooting percentage night (7-of-18) but she carried us in the first quarter and put pressure on NCMC all night with her ability to attack off the dribble.”
Adoreya Williams added 10 points, Tiaira Earnest six and Brodi Byrd and Jada Mayberry five each. Byrd also had eight rebounds as the Lady Pirates had a slight 46-44 edge on the boards.
“I was pleased with a lot of things,” McKinstry said. “We had 16 turnovers but nine of those came in the first quarter so I was happy with how well we took care of the ball the final three quarters.
“Also, the girls had a lot to overcome because of a poor shooting night (36.0 percent) by making free throws and holding NCMC to an equally poor shooting performance (.357). As a group, our free throw attempts (23-of-28) and percentage (.821) were big for us tonight and why we were able to come away with a victory.”
Estell, who was 10-of-16 from the field, was 7-of-8 from the foul line’ Myers 4-of-5: and Byrd, Earnest and Mayberry flawless in a combined seven attempts.
KCKCC and Labette (14-3) will tip off at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday with a men’s game to follow at 7:30 p.m. In other conference openers, No. 4 Johnson County (18-1) will play at No. 6 Highland (14-0) and Hesston will be at Fort Scott.
The Blue Devils are also scheduled for a makeup game at Park a week from Tuesday, on Jan. 28. The game was originally scheduled for last Friday. That game was postponed by icy roads.