Category: KCKCC

Earnest’s career-best leads No. 4 KCKCC past Metro, 74-67

KCKCC sophomore Tiaira Earnest found her path blocked as teammate De’Jaria Guillory (14) tried to get out of the way in the Blue Devils 76-67 win at Metropolitan Thursday. Earnest had a career-high 18 points, six rebounds and three assists to lead KCKCC, (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s unbeaten Lady Blue Devils got a much-needed lift from sophomore guard Tiaira Earnest Thursday night.

Playing in only her second game of the season after a pre-season injury, Earnest scored a career-high 18 points to help the Blue Devils hold off Metropolitan Community College 76-67 on Metro’s Penn Valley campus Thursday night.

The win was the eighth straight for KCKCC, which moved up to No. 4 in the latest NJCAA Division II rankings behind two other Jayhawk Conference powers, No. 1 Labette and No. 3 Johnson County. The Blue Devils resume action Saturday, playing Graceland junior varsity in Lamoni, Iowa. Game time is 2 p.m. and it will be followed by a men’s game at 4 p.m.

Both teams then return home Tuesday to play host to North Central Missouri before opening Jayhawk Conference play at Johnson County a week from Saturday.

A 94-44 winner over Metro just a week ago, the Blue Devils struggled between frigid shooting and turnovers in the early going. It was 2-2 after five minutes before Earnest’s four first-quarter field goals powered KCKCC to a 16-9 lead.

The Blue Devils led by as many as 15 points midway through the second quarter on the way to a 36-24 halftime lead. KCKCC was led by 12 points from Earnest and eight from Hannah Valentine.

KCKCC led by as many as 19 points with seven minutes left only to get a bit of a scare in the losing minutes as the Wolves closed to 68-58 with 4:40 left and it took a 3-pointer by Earnest and a De’Jaria Guillory layup to rebuild the lead to 73-58.

Four Blue Devils scored in double figures. In addition to Earnest’s 18, Valentine had 12, De’Jaria Guillory and Ikla Elam 11 each, DeQuaria Guillory 8, and Mercery Roberts and Lacy Whitcomb 7 each. Earnest also three assists, two assists and six rebounds that trailed only the seven corralled by Elam. The Blue Devils were 27-of-63 for 42.9 percent from the field but just 6-of-26 from 3-point (.231).

Metro got 27 points each from Kenaja Green and Mackenzie Callaway but the Wolves were just 21-of-67 from the field for 31.3 percent.

Sophomore guard Hannah Valentine found a gap in Metropolitan’s defense on the way to scoring two of her 13 points in KCKCC’s 76-67 win Thursday. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

Depth helps Blue Devils hold off Metropolitan, 72-69

KCKCC forward Caleb Jones left Metropolitan’s Anthony Bell (41) helpless to defend as he put up a reverse layup in the Blue Devils’ 72-69 win Thursday. Jones scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)
Jermaine Yarbough converted Zack Nelson’s pass into a tomahawk dunk in the Blue Devils’ 72-69 win at Metropolitan Thursday. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

The depth of Kansas City Kansas Community College’s men’s basketball team was never more evident than in a down-to-the-wire 72-69 win at Metropolitan Community College Thursday night.

Reserves provided 43 of the Blue Devils’ 72 points and they needed every one of them as the Wolves had a game-tying 3-point shot bounce off the back of the rim as time ran out in another typical furiously fought battle between the two long-time rivals.

The win was the third in a row for the Blue Devils (5-5), clinched a sweep of their two-game series with Metro and a chance to get above the .500 mark in a just-added doubleheader with Graceland junior varsity Saturday in Lamoni, Iowa. The women will tip off at 2 p.m.; the men at 4 p.m.

“Our bench stepped up big for us,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said. ”We’ve been off for seven days and it looked like it just getting back in a flow. Our guys played hard and stepped up in key moments. We had to back in our groove and set the tone for next week when the conference season opens.”

Metro might have grabbed control of the game in the first half had it not been for thee KCKCC bench, which scored 25 of the 30 points in trailing 35-30 at the half.

Taking advantage of numerous Blue Devil misses, the Wolves jumped off to a 10-2 lead in the first five minutes before Caleb Jones, Trey Bates and Shayon Janloo provided spark off the bench. Jones had 10 points, Bates 8 and Janloo 5 as the Blue Devils survived 33.3 percent shooting (11-of-33) from the field and .250 from 3-point (3-of-12).

The Blue Devils surged ahead to start the second half, getting a pair of field goals each from Zack Nelson, DeAngelo Bell, Bryce Johnson and Jones to open a 48-43 lead. It was 53-50 midway through the second half when two Jermaine Yarbough goals, one on a jarring dunk on a pass from Nelson, and a Nelson fast break layup opened a 60-50 lead.

It was 70-59 with 5:05 left only to have the Wolves close to 70-68 with 3:00 to go before Janloo provided what was to be the winner with a short range shot with 2:40 left and the Blue Devils held on through shoddy free throwing by both sides. The Wolves made one of four in the closing minutes, the Blue Devils clunked a pair that would have avoided Metro’s final last ditch try.

Jones led KCKCC with a double double, 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds; Janloo and Bel1 points added 11 points each; Yarbough 9, Bates 8, Johnson 6 and Nelson 5 along with five assists, several on outstanding deliveries.

The Blue Devils won the rebound battle 42-35 with Robert Rhodes adding eight and Bates eight. They also had 16 turnovers, nine in the second half, but were also 18-for-29 for a sizzling 62.1 percent in a see-saw battle that had two ties and 11 lead changes..

Metro, which had five players in double figures, got up 10 mores shots but made just 24-of 72 for 33.3 percent and 7-of-25 from 3-point (.280).

At home against North Central Missouri Tuesday, the Blue Devils open Jayhawk Conference play a week from Saturday at Johnson County.

Ground broken for new KCKCC student dorm

Ground was broken on Friday for a new four-story student dormitory at Kansas City Kansas Community college, 7250 State Ave. (Photo from Kelly Rogge, KCKCC public information manager)
Dr. Greg Mosier, KCKCC president, spoke at the groundbreaking Friday for the new four-story student dormitory at Kansas City Kansas Community college, 7250 State Ave. (Photo from Kelly Rogge, KCKCC public information manager)

Ground was broken Friday for a new student dormitory at Kansas City Kansas Community College, 7250 State Ave.

The groundbreaking for the new dormitory was near the current Police Academy building on the west side of campus.

The new student dormitory is scheduled to open in fall 2022, according to Dr. Ray Daniels, chair of the KCKCC Board of Trustees.

Among the features of the four-story dormitory are a group study hall, study spaces, multi-purpose spaces, a community laundry facility, a storm shelter, gaming room and outdoor patio and grilling area. It will have 57 four-bed units; seven two-bed units; five ADA mobility units; two three-bed units; and one each for a housing specialist and housing supervisor.

Dr. Daniels said at the groundbreaking that a student survey showed that students wanted to have a dorm. The college rented some nearby buildings for dorm space, and later decided to build its own dormitory on campus.

Dr. Daniels said the college has several other projects currently taking place, including a downtown Kansas City, Kansas, campus that is being planned.

Student success is one of the pillars of the college’s strategic plans, he said. The dormitory will be a place of learning, he said. It will be a safe place to go, it will have high-speed internet and will provide places for students to gather. The students will have easy access to the college buildings for classes, tutoring, library work and advising.

Also speaking at the event were Dr. Greg Mosier, KCKCC president; Dustin Williams, KCKCC student president; and Dr. Jane Philbrook, Unified Government commissioner.

Williams said the new dormitory project has sparked ideas for other improvements.

Dr. Philbrook said the dormitory would provide an opportunity for students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to further their education or who may not have a community college close to them.

“This is an exciting way to open our doors to the future,” Dr. Philbrook said about the new project.

“Our students deserve the best learning and living environment we can provide,” Dr. Mosier said in a news release. “The new student housing facility will allow our students to live, study and connect in new ways while being surrounded by curated amenities. I am delighted to watch the construction and know that in a few months, our students will move into a modern, comfortable and technologically supported home.”