Category: KCKCC

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Highlighted by a unique tripleheader Saturday, Kansas City Kansas Community College will play four of its last five non-conference men’s basketball games at home heading into the 2020 Jayhawk Conference season.

It all starts Friday with the KCKCC Classic. Fort Scott plays Metropolitan Community College at 5:30 p.m. followed by KCKCC vs. On Point Hoops Academy at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, Fort Scott plays On Point at 2 p.m. with the Blue Devils colliding with Metropolitan at 4 p.m. The KCKCC women then wrap up the tripleheader when they play Metropolitan at 6 p.m.

At No. 1 ranked North Central Missouri (NJCAA DII) in Trenton Monday, the Blue Devils play host to Saint Mary junior varsity next Thursday and Park University junior varsity Friday before beginning Jayhawk play at Labette Jan. 22.

Hutchinson, the No. 12 ranked team in NJCAA Division I, boosted its record to 13-2 with a 98-67 win over the Blue Devils (5-10) at Hutchinson Wednesday.

Scoring the first 12 points, the Blue Dragon surged to an 18-2 lead in the first seven minutes on the way to a 51-29 halftime lead.

Tyler Brown and 6-6 Saquan Singleton each had 18 points and 6-7 Majok Kuath 16 points and nine rebounds for Hutch. Singleton and 7-0 Fred Odhiambo added seven rebounds each as the Blue Dragon dominated the rebounding 52-32.

Blue Devil freshman guard Deron McDaniel led all scorers with 22 points, netting 5-of-10 3-pointers and 7-of-8 free throws.

Guards Jalen Davis and Ezekiel Lopes each added nine points and Calvin Slaughter, Robert Rhodes and Jermaine Yarbough chipped in with six apiece. Yarboough had eight rebounds and Lopes six to lead KCKCC.

Hutchinson shot 58.1 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point in the first half and finished with 54.4 percent for the field. The Blue Devils were guilty of 16 turnovers to 19 for Hutch but were just 21-of-69 from the field for 30.4 percent.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College will start the second half of the 2019-2020 women’s basketball season ranked No. 2 in NJCAA Division II when the Lady Blue Devils play host to Southeast Nebraska Thursday at 4 p.m.

No. 1 Kirkwood (15-1), the only team to defeat KCKCC, remained No. 1 despite suffering its first loss at the hands of Illinois Central 80-74 Dec. 30. Lincoln Land is No. 3 followed by two Jayhawk Conference rivals, No. 4 Johnson County (14-1) and No. 5 Highland (13-0).

“For a young and inexperienced group, to be 14-1 playing a good competitive schedule and traveling as much as we have, I’m really proud of them for the position they’ve put themselves in,” fifth-year coach Joe McKinstry said. “Our first semester record does not reflect the ups and downs that this group has had to overcome and I think that speaks to their talent and ability as a group.”

Indeed, the Blue Devils played the first half of the season with only one returning member of the 2019 national championship team, 5-6 guard Brodi Byrd. They’ve also battled through several injuries and in fact, had only eight healthy players in their last game against Southeast Illinois in St. Louis.

The key to KCKCC’s first half success has been balance. Seven different players have led the scoring and eight have either led or shared the lead in rebounding. Even more impressive, 10 Blue Devils are averaging 5.8 points a game or better.

Kamryn Estell, a 6-1 forward from Belton and the Blue Devils’ lone 6-footer, leads offensively. Second in the Jayhawk Conference in scoring at 14.5, she’s also fifth in rebounds (8.3) and fourth in field goal accuracy (.546). Byrd at 11.2 points and Anija Frazier, who is averaging 13.8 points and 6.0 rebounds after missing the first 11 games, are the other Blue Devils in double figures.

Five guards are bunched closely led by 5-7 Aliyah Myers, who is averaging 8.9 points, followed 5-6 Tiaira Earnest, 6.9; 5-5 Adoreya Williams, 6.7; 5-6 Jada Mayberry, 6.6; and 5-5 Destiny Zamudio, 6.3; and 5-11 forward Mercer Roberts, 5.8 and 6.4 rebounds.

Despite the lack of size, the Blue Devils are outrebounding foes by nearly four a game thanks to contributions from guards Earnest (4.3), Byrd (4.2), Mayberry (4.1) and Myers (3.9). Byrd and Myers lead in assists with 2.7 per game. Averaging 78.9 points a game, the Blue Devils are giving up 62.7 points per contest.

In addition to playing host to Southeast Nebraska Thursday, the Blue Devils entertain Metropolitan Saturday at 6 p.m. and they finish non-conference play with three games on the road before the conference opener at Labette Jan. 22.

“I think that game on Jan. 22 will tell us if we’re a contender or not,” McKinstry said. “Right now we’re nowhere near where we need to be and we haven’t shown what we’re capable of on a consistent level. But that’s a good thing as long as we understand and accept the responsibility that we can be better. We have five games to work out some kinks and get ourselves back in shape before we start right off with a very tough road game at Labette. Win or lose there, we’ll find out if we’re really here to play for something meaningful at the end of the season.”

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s men return to second half basketball play with a bang – three games in four days.

They’re at Hutchinson Wednesday. The Blue Devils then will play host On Point Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Metropolitan Community College at 4 p.m. Saturday as part of the KCKCC Classic that includes two games on Friday and three on Saturday.

Fort Scott and Metropolitan will kick off the Classic at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Fort Scott will take on On Point Academy Saturday at 2 p.m. The tripleheader will then close out Saturday at 6 p.m. when the KCKCC women will play host to Metropolitan.

Injuries plagued the Blue Devils in a 5-9 first semester. Sevon Witt, a 6-8 sophomore who was averaging nearly 22 points and 11 rebounds, tore an ACL in the sixth game of the season and sophomore guard Cody Dortch suffered a similar injury in the ninth game of the season. Dortch was averaging 9.0 points a game.

Despite the loss of 31 points a game, the Blue Devils are averaging 82.6 points per game, 2.1 points a game more than their opponents. They’re also shooting better (.462-.437) and outrebounding foes 40.7-38,4. Four of the losses have been by five points or less.

Jalen Davis, a 6-4 sophomore from Houston, leads the Blue Devils offensively, averaging 12.5 points with games of 31, 30 and 29 points while 6-7 freshman Robert Rhodes from Park Hill South is second in the Jayhawk Conference in rebounding with 8.6 per game and scoring at an 8.9 clip.

Rhodes has seven games with 10 or more rebounds. Deron McDaniel is second in scoring at 10.8 points per game and is second in the Jayhawk in 3-point accuracy, connecting on 31-of-69 for 44.9 percent.

Jermaine Yarbough, a 6-8 freshman from Grandview, is averaging 8.9 points and 4.7 points followed by 6-1 Ezekiel Lopes, 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds; and Calvin Slaughter, 7.2 points and 3.7 rebounds.

DeAngelo Bell, a 5-9 guard from Harmon, leads in assists with 3.1 per game and is averaging 5.9 points. Other assists leaders are McDaniel (2.6), Slaughter (2.4) and Lopes (2.1). Additional scoring has come from freshman forwards Jaemaal Newson (3.9) and Timothy Barbieri (3.2).

KCKCC will close out non-conference play next week, playing No. 1 ranked North Central Missouri in Trenton Monday night and then playing host to Saint Mary junior varsity Thursday and Park junior varsity Friday, both at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils open Jayhawk Conference play at Labette Jan. 22.