Category: KCKCC

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College rebounded from a loss at nationally ranked Hutchinson with a fury.

Bolting to a 12-0 in the first two minutes, the Blue Devils led 17-2 just 4½ minutes into the game on the way to a 95-64 win Friday over On Point Hoops Academy of Reno, Oklahoma.

“We bounced back after a tough loss; good win, good effort,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said.

The win came in the opening round of the annual KCKCC Classic. However, weather conditions forced cancellation of Saturday’s second round of three games in which both Blue Devil teams were scheduled to play Metropolitan Community College. No decision has been made on the possible rescheduling of the men’s game but the KCKCC women have replaced their game with Metro with a home contest with William Penn’s junior varsity at about 7 p.m. Tuesday. The game will follow a Bishop Ward High School game.

The Blue Devils came out sizzling against On Point, drilling 21-of-31 shots for a torrid 66.7 percent in building a 59-29 halftime lead. Calvin Slaughter had 15 points, Jalen Davis 13 and Ezekiel Lopes 10 to lead the way for the Blue Devils, who got a pair of 3-pointers each from Slaughter, Davis and Deron McDaniel.

Slaughter finished with a game-high 20 points, Lopes 19 and Davis 18 as the trio combined to nail 10-of-20 3-pointers. Lopes missed just one of five treys while Slaughter and Davis had three each and McDaniel two as the Blue Devils were 13-of-31 from the perimeter (.419).

Other production came from Jermaine Yarbough, 13 points and five rebounds; DeAngelo Ball, a game-high eight assists and seven points; and Robert Rhodes shared rebounding honors with Slaughter with eight while scoring seven points.

The Blue Devils scored 32 points off 22 On Point turnovers but were guilty of 21 of their own. KCKCC won the rebounding battle 42-34 and finished the game with 35 field goals in 62 attempts for 56.5 percent while limiting On Point to 35.9 percent.

The Blue Devils face yet another tough test when they return to action Monday, facing the NJCAA Division II’s No. 1 ranked team, North Central Missouri in Trenton.

KCKCC then returns home to play host to Saint Mary junior varsity Thursday and Park University junior varsity Friday, both at 7 p.m., before beginning Jayhawk Conference play at Labette Jan. 22.

Because of threatening weather conditions, games in the 2020 KCKCC Classic Saturday have been canceled.

However, today’s (Friday’s) games between Fort Scott and Metropolitan Community College (5:30 p.m.) and KCKCC and On Point Hoops Academy (7:30 p.m.) will be played as scheduled.

No decision has been made if KCKCC’s scheduled games with Metropolitan Saturday will be rescheduled.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s No. 2 ranked Lady Blue Devils got another weapon in their arsenal Thursday.

Playing in her first game of the season, 5-10 sophomore Caroline Hoppock scored a game high 23 points in leading KCKCC to an 87-69 win over Southeast Nebraska.

The win improved the Blue Devils’ record to 15-1 heading into a 6 p.m. Saturday rematch with Metropolitan Community College. It’s the final home game until Jayhawk Conference play against Hesston Jan. 25. The Saturday contest will follow a KCKCC-Metro men’s clash at 4 p.m.

Hoppock averaged 7.3 points and tied the KCKCC record for 3-point goals with eight in a single game in the Blue Devils’ national championship season last year but missed the first 15 games of this season with a pre-season injury. She returned Thursday with a spectacular shooting performance, hitting 5-of-7 3-pointers and 8-of-11 shots overall.

Equally important was when the scoring came, 19 of KCKCC’s last 30 points when the game was still on the line.

Trailing by as many as 15 points late in the first half, Southeast had cut the KCKCC lead to 57-49 when Hoppock returned to lineup with 2:13 left in the third quarter and promptly drained three straight 3-pointers and a pair of free throws in a span of just over three minutes to open a 70-52 lead.

“It’s nice to have someone who can make shots back in the lineup,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “Offensively, Caroline is really skilled and when she’s locked in, she can knock down shots in a hurry.”

Guard Alliyah Myers added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, Jada Mayberry 12 points, Kamryn Estell 11 points and a team high eight rebounds and Destiny Zamudio nine points and four assists. The Blue Devils had 23 assists on 31 field goals with Adoreya Williams leading the way with a career high six.

“I liked our assists, I liked our free throws (16-of-21), I liked our steals (14) and I liked that we forced 27 turnovers,” McKinstry said. “But anytime you force 27 turnovers it should lead to a lot more possessions and opportunities. We turned it over 19 times and missed 15 layups. It’s a new year. We had a nice long break. But we still have the same issues – too many turnovers and too many missed layups.

“This team is not the second best team in the country. The bottom line is we’ve got to be better and I think we can be better. This team does a good job of sharing the basketball but we’ve got to clean things up and hold ourselves accountable.”

Cassidy Weinandt had 19 points and Jayden Widener 10 points and 8 rebounds for Southeast, which actually outshot the Blue Devils from the field (.429-.413) and 3-point (.350-.290). KCKCC had a 46-41 rebound edge as all 11 Blue Devils had at least one rebound.

After Saturday, the Lady Blue Devils are on the road for four straight starting Wednesday at Missouri Southern junior varsity. They are also at Park University junior varsity Jan. 17 and North Central Missouri in Trenton Jan. 18 before the Jayhawk Conference opener at Labette Jan. 22.