Category: KCKCC

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women wrote win No. 20 into the record books Tuesday with a 106-41 victory over Park University’s junior varsity in Parkville.

It was the fourth 20-win season in five years for head coach Joe McKinstry and the 10th 20-win season in the 45-year history of women’s basketball at KCKCC.

“Twenty wins and 20-2. That’s kind of the standard for wins so that’s pretty good,” said McKinstry, whose Blue Devils were right back in action Wednesday when they returned to Jayhawk Conference action at Fort Scott at 5:30 p.m.

The Blue Devils put Tuesday’s game out of reach in the first quarter. Limiting Park to just one field goal in 15 attempts, KCKCC bolted to a 24-4 lead.

Everyone got in on the fast start as eight Blue Devils scored and eight had rebounds in the first quarter and by game’s end all 10 Blue Devils had scored and claimed rebounds, seven had assists and a half-dozen had steals – along with 22 assists on 35 field goals.

“Our most complete game of the year,” McKinstry said. “While our opponent was not the greatest, we’ve played other teams on the same level this season and struggled. Tonight, we were able to stay focused and do the things we practice. Everyone scored and everyone had at least one rebound and our defense led to a lot of easy baskets. I know the 13 threes are the most this year and we shot the ball well (.500 on 35-of-70).”

Five Blue Devils scored a dozen or more points in a well-balanced attack. Aliayah Myers had 18 points, Brodi Boyd 17, Kamryn Estell 16, Diamond Williams a career high 14 and Tiaira Earnest 12 to lead the way. Destiny Zamudio added 8 points, Jada Mayberry 7, Mercer Roberts 6 and Adoreya Williams five.

Shanea Dinwiddie shared rebound honors with Myers with a career high six while Estell, Diamond Williams and Adoreya Williams added five each. Zamudio led in assists with five with Estell, Byrd, Myers and both Williams chipping in with three apiece. Diamond Williams also had four steals and Byrd three of KCKCC’s 17 thefts.

Defensively, KCKCC forced 25 turnovers while committing 17 and limited the Pirates to just 15 field goals in 64 attempts for 23.4 percent.

In addition to Wednesday’s game at Fort Scott, the Blue Devils stay on the road at league-leading Highland (16-0) Saturday at 1 p.m. before returning home next Wednesday to play host to Johnson County at Academic Success Night.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College will open the 2020 softball season ranked No. 18 in the NJCAA Division II pre-season national rankings.

It is the first time the Blue Devils have been ranked in the pre-season poll and the first time in any national rankings since the 2004 team reached the NJCAA national tournament. KCKCC is one of three Jayhawk Conference teams ranked in the opening poll. Highland is ranked No. 5 and Johnson County No. 8.

“A nice compliment, a little credit to the program after the season (38-20) we had last year,” Lana Ross, second-year head coach, said. “It’s a great recruiting tool and lets our recruits know we working to get better. But as far as this team goes, we’re really not looking at the polls. We’re just looking at what we need to do to get better every single day.”

Despite the worst spring weather in a couple of decades, the Blue Devils’ 38 wins last season equaled the second most wins in a season. The Blue Devils also divided regular season series with each of the three co-championship teams and reached the NJCAA Region VI district championship game.

In her 16th season of coaching, Ross is no stranger to being ranked. In her 13 seasons at Iowa Western, her teams were ranked 11 times.

Seven veterans return from last year’s squad, all starters. They include pitchers Shaylun Grosstephan and Mackenzie Pinkerton, catcher Jennica Messer, infielders Hannah Redick and Alaina Howe and outfielders Devin Purcell and Alexis Rymer. They are joined by an outstanding freshman class of 10.

“This team has some talent; we just need to put it together,” Ross said. “Right now, we’re at about 40 percent of what we need to be. We’re four weeks away from our season opener so we have four weeks to go from 40 percent to 80 percent. The work ethic is there but I’m not seeing that inner drive of coming to practice and wanting to get better – part of which probably can be attributed to having to practicing inside. Hopefully we’ll be able to get outside Sunday and Monday.”

The Blue Devils will open the season Tuesday, Feb. 25, when they play host to the No. 5 ranked team in the nation, Kirkwood of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Metropolitan Community College follows Feb. 27 and State Fair March 3 before KCKCC goes on the road for the first time.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Brandon Burgette’s Blue Devils put on the biggest aerial show in the history of the Kansas City Kansas Community College Field House Monday night.

The Blue Devils knocked down 18-of-29 three-point attempts for a sizzling 62.1 percent in a 105-64 win over Park University’s Development Team. It’s the most three-pointers and the best shooting percentage on 20 or more shots in a single game in the Field House.

It’s also the most three-pointers in 31 years, dating back to the 1988-1989 season when the Maurice Lamar- led Blue Devils drained 21 treys (47 attempts) in a 122-113 overtime loss to Garden City in a game remembered as the best ever in the old Jayhawk Shootout. The best record for percentage is .650 (13-of-20) against Penn Valley Nov. 15, 1988.

The long-range assault was not the only highlight. Jalen Davis’ 9-of-9 shooting from the field has been exceeded only one other time. Henry Thomas was 10-for-10 back in 1991. And the Blue Devils dealt out 29 assists on 43 field goals led by a career high 11 from freshman Deron McDaniel. Davis added seven and DeAngelo Bell five.

“We did a great job sharing the ball which helped us have a great shooting night,” Burgette said. “One thing about shooting it well is trusting each other to make open shots and our guys have been shooting with a ton of confidence and encouragement.”

The Blue Devils also shared in the three-point attack No one had more than three treys and eight Blue Devils had at least one three and seven had two or more. Only Robert Rhodes did not have a trey and he did not attempt one while sharing rebound honors with seven and blocking a pair of shots.

Nearly half of the three-point production came from a source not usually expected. The forward trio of 6-8 Jermaine Yarbough, 6-5 Jaemaal Newson and 6-6 Tim Barbieri combined to make 8-of-10 three-pointers. Yarbough and Newson were both 3-of-4 and Barbieri a perfect 2-of-2.

Davis led the scoring with 21 points including a trio of treys and added seven rebounds, seven assists and just one turnover. Yarbough added 17 points and seven rebounds while DeAngelo Bell had 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, Berbieri a career high 13 points, Calvin Slaughter 12 points and five rebounds, Newsom 11 points and five rebounds and Ezekiel Lopes six points and three assists.

For the game, the Blue Devils were 43-of-75 for 57.3 percent. They also dominated the rebounding 45-32) while turnovers were almost even (17-16).

The win wrapped up non-conference play for the Blue Devils (9-12), who have won four of their last six heading into Jayhawk Conference road games at Fort Scott Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) and Highland Saturday (3 p.m.)