Category: KCKCC

Big finish lets No. 11 Labette end 14-game KCKCC win streak

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s defending national champions started off the 2020 Jayhawk Conference season exactly the way they started last season – with a loss.

For the second straight year. Labette foiled the Lady Blue Devils’ conference debut, pulling away in the final minutes for a 79-63 win.

The loss ended KCKCC’s 14-game winning streak and dropped the No. 2 ranked Blue Devils to 18-2 heading into their conference home opener Saturday against Hesston (2 and 4 p.m.) Ranked No. 11 in the latest NJCAA Division II national poll, Labette won for the 13th time in a row and improved to 15-3,

“The final score isn’t really reflective of how competitive the game was,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “I thought our girls fought hard and were in a good position all night. We just ran out of gas the final four or five minutes.”

Indeed, KCKCC closed to 64-58 midway through the fourth quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers and a layup by Caroline Hoppock only to have the hot-shooting Lady Cardinals run off 13 straight points to break the game open.

Labette was a torrid 20-of-30 for 66.7 percent shooting in out-scoring the Blue Devils 48-35 in the second half.

“We stopped shooting threes in the second half,” Labette coach Mitch Rolls said. “We were settling in the first half. Everybody started getting to the rim (in the second half) and good things started to happen.”

Angel Williams, a 6-0 sophomore center, led Labette with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“Every time there’s a big matchup – Kamryn Estell is one of the best bigs in the country – she shows that she’ll rise above,” Rolls said. Diamond Jones added 11 points and Jessica Martino 10 for the Cardinals.

Hoppock led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-11 shots (4-of-7 from 3-point) while Estell added 14 points (5-of-6 shooting), Aliyah Myers 11 and Mercer Roberts 7. Hoppock, Roberts and Brodi Byrd had four rebounds and Estell, Myers, Tiaira Earnest and Adoreya Williams three each for KCKCC, which was out-rebounded 38-31.

Rebounding and turnovers were pivotal in the contest. Labette was able to get off 19 more shots than the Blue Devils (68-49), partially because of 21 KCKCC turnovers and by allowing the Blue Devils only three offensive rebounds. The Cardinals, on the other hand, had 11 offensive boards, several of which were converted into field goals.

“Once again, turnovers and missed opportunities around the rim (22-of-49 for 44.9 percent) really put us in a tough spot and those things are hard to overcome against good teams,” McKinstry said. “Hopefully, now we have an idea of what our effort and consistency levels need to be in order to put ourselves in a better position to win these games.”

In other Jayhawk openers Wednesday, unbeaten and No. 6 ranked Highland took the early lead with a 63-55 home-court win over No. 4 Johnson County while Hesston won a 55-53 thriller at Fort Scott. In other games Saturday, Highland goes to Labette while JCCC plays host to Fort Scott.

Lady Blue Devils cut turnovers in half in 99-42 road win

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Playing back-to-back games proved no problem whatsoever for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s No. 2 ranked Lady Blue Devils Wednesday.

Coming off a 90-69 win over William Penn’s junior varsity Tuesday night, the Blue Devils cut their turnovers in half in a 99-42 win over Missouri Southern’s junior varsity in Joplin Wednesday night. It was the 13th straight win for KCKCC.

The win also boosted the Blue Devils’ record to 17-1 heading into their final two non-conference games, at North Central Missouri (12-5) Saturday at 2 p.m. in Trenton and at Park University junior varsity in Parkville Tuesday at 5 p.m. The Park game was scheduled for Friday but postponed by threatening weather.

“We’ll get North Central’s best shot,” warned KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry. “We only won by 12 at home and they’ll have a big crowd because their men are ranked No. 1 and play Johnson County after our game.”

The Blue Devils never trailed at Missouri Southern, bolting to their biggest first quarter of the season. Knocking down 4-of-8 3-pointers, KCKCC shot 57.1 percent (12-of-21) to open a 35-10 lead. By game’s end, all 11 Blue Devils had scored and all but one had assists or rebounds.

Freshman Kamryn Estell, who was 9-of-12 from the field, led all scorers with 23 points along with eight rebounds and three steals while sophomore Caroline Hoppock continued her blistering offensive start, just missing a double-double for the second game in a row with 20 points and nine rebounds. Playing in only her third game, it was also her third straight game with five 3-pointers, the best 3-game stretch ever.

Tiaira Earnest added three treys, 15 points and eight rebounds while Brodi Byrd contributed nine points, five rebounds and a game high four assists; Aliyah Myers eight points, seven rebounds and three assists; and Destiny Zamudio and Jada Mayberry six points each. Mercer Roberts chipped in with six rebounds as KCKCC dominated the rebounding 53-33.

“I thought the girls came out with a lot of energy from the beginning and worked really hard, especially on the defensive end of the floor,” McKinstry said.

One of the bright spots was just 11 turnovers, about half the number of errors in the last two games.

“I really challenged them to stay disciplined and not let the score dictate their effort or execution and I felt like they did a great job of doing that,” McKinstry said.

“It was nice to see everyone in the scoring column and nearly everyone in rebounds and assists. We continue to share the basketball well and look for one another. This team is as good as any that I’ve had when it comes to sharing the ball.”

The Blue Devils had 17 assists and 11 steals in forcing 19 Missouri Southern turnovers that were converted into 27 points. In shooting, KCKCC was 37-of -76 for 48.7 percent while giving up just 15 field goals in 64 attempts (.234).