Category: KCKCC

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

A Kansas City Kansas Community College women’s basketball season that had reached so many heights in a year unlike no other came to end 1,000 miles away.

Held scoreless the final three minutes of play, the Blue Devils dropped a 67-62 decision Friday to Arkansas State Mid-South (24-2) in the semifinals of the NJCAA Division II national tournament consolation bracket played at Catawba Valley in Hickory, N.C.

The loss ended the Blue Devil season at 21-4, a winning percentage of .840 that is one of the Top 10 in college history. Upsetting No. 1 Johnson County 67-59 to win the Plains regional championship, the Blue Devils finished No. 5 in the final national poll on the way to a third national tournament appearance in six years.

Two of the losses came at the hands of Johnson County, which went against Lakeland in the national championship game Saturday night; the other two came in the national tournament.

“More than anything I think it was difficult to play when there’s nothing on the line,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “We had a nice run to start the third quarter but it was our only seven minutes of good basketball all night. Otherwise, we were bad in just about every facet of the game.”

The Blue Devils fell behind 12-3 and 9-0 in the first two games of the national tourney and it took two quarters to catch up and Friday’s game was no different. Arkansas State jumped in front 11-4 and never trailed in a 37-30 first half.

But it was the Blue Devils who came out smoking in the third quarter, outscoring the Greyhounds 15-2 to start the second half. Three-pointers by D.J. Guillory and Faith Putz and Ekla Elam’s layup vaulted KCKCC in front 38-37 and the Blue Devils extended the lead to 45-39 on two free throws by Elam, a 3-point play by Putz and a layup by D.Q. Guillory.

However, the 6-point lead was the most the Blue Devils could muster. Arkansas State pulled back even 49-49 at the three quarter mark and set up a see-saw start to the fourth quarter. KCKCC led twice, the last 55-51 on a 3-pointer by Aysia Arrowood with eight minutes left. Down 60-57, the Blue Devils pulled even on a 3-point play by Aliyah Myers with 4:41 to go and Myers kept them close 63-62 on a layup with 3:02 left before things turned sour.

The Blue Devils finished the season with three missed shots, two missed free throws and two fouls while Arkansas State got a layup and free throw from Aaliyah Lee and two additional free throws for the 67-62 win.

Putz had 12 points and Myers, Elam and D.J. Guillory 10 points each to lead the Blue Devils offensively while Arrowood added a pair of 3-pointers and Lacy Whitcomb and D.Q. Guillory five points each. Myers led in both rebounds (8) and assists (4) while Elam had five rebounds.

Cierra Penn had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead Arkansas State, which had more rebounds (36-34), fewer turnovers (28-24) and shot slightly better (.407-.396).

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

The KJCCC Player of the Week last week, Kansas City Kansas Community College third baseman Palmer Hutchison laid the foundation Thursday for a repeat performance.

Hutchison’s leadoff home run in the top of the eighth inning provided the winning run in a 5-4 opening game win and he added another in a 10-1 sweep of Neosho County in Chanute. The homers were his 10th and 11th of the season and gave him seven in the last eight games.

The sweep extended the Blue Devils’ current winning streak to 10 in a row and a two-game lead over Allen County in the race for the third place and a home playoff berth.

Johnson County (18-2) continues to lead the Jayhawk Conference followed by Cowley (16-3-1), KCKCC (13-7) and Allen County (9-7). The Blue Devils closed out their four-game series with Neosho Saturday in a home doubleheader and are hosts to Maple Woods Monday at 3 p.m.

Hutchison’s tie-breaking home run in the 5-4 win rewarded Parker Weddle’s strong pitching performance. Weddle (4-3) worked seven innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs. He struck out seven and walked three before Hunter Cashero gave up one hit and struck out two for his first save.

The Panthers proved to be the generous hosts. Hutchison’s homer was the only earned run. The Blue Devils took a 1-0 lead in the third without benefit of a hit, scored another on singles by Camden Karlin, Cole Slibowski and Caleb Adams in the fourth; and added two in the fifth on a two-run single by Slibowski following an error and Hutchison’s third hit of the game.

Logan Barnard (3-0) allowed just two hits in six innings in the 10-1 nightcap, walking four and striking out four. Joseph Reyes pitched a scoreless seventh.

The Blue Devils belted three home runs. Cole Dawson had a 2-run shot in the first and Adams and Hutchison each had 2-run blasts in a 4-run second. Adams added a 2-run double in the sixth while Dawson finished with three hits and Camden Karlin, Hutchison and Adams two each.

A COVID freshman from Hays, Hutchison paced the Blue Devils to six wins with five home runs, two with the bases-loaded to earn Player of the Week honors.

Hutchison’s two-out grand slam got the Blue Devils in front 4-0 in the first inning of a 14-4 win at Highland Thursday and then hit a game-tying home run in the eighth inning in a game the Blue Devils would win 11-6. He finished with two hits in each game. On Saturday. Hutchison belted two home runs, one a grand slam and drove in seven runs in a 13-3 win over Highland and then homered and singled in a 6-3 nightcap win. Hutchison leads the Blue Devils in home runs with 11 and runs-batted-in with 31 while hitting .307 and has been a defensive standout at third base.