by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
The Ben Allen Fieldhouse at Highland Community College continued to be a House of Horrors for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women’s basketball.
Breaking open a tight contest in the final quarter Saturday, the No. 3 ranked and unbeaten Scotties (18-0) pulled away for a 93-73 win. It was Highland’s 48th home win in a row.
It was the sixth straight KCKCC loss at Highland dating back to a 54-53 win in 2015. Included in that streak were losses by KCKCC’s two national championship teams, 82-71 in 2016 and 94-88 last year in a game marred by 104 free throws.
The loss, only the third in 24 games, dropped the Lady Blue Devils (2-2) two games back of the Scotties (4-0) in Jayhawk Conference play heading into a home contest with No. 5 ranked Johnson County Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
“For the third time in as many losses, the final score doesn’t really reflect how good a game this was,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry saod. “Our girls came out with great energy. I felt like we were ready to compete. We did a lot of things real well and I was very pleased, especially for three quarters. But Highland is a very hard place to play. They haven’t won 48 straight home games for no reason.”
The Blue Devils led Highland 21-16 after one quarter and trailed only 52-50 with 5:01 left in the third quarter before Highland opened a 69-61three quarter lead and then broke the game wide open by scoring the first 10 points of the fourth period for an insurmountable 79-61 bulge.
The Scotties used torrid shooting to break the game open, knocking down 20 of 32 second-half shots for 62.5 percent.
Erin Randle, a two-time KJCCC player of the week, scored 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds – both game highs – to lead Highland, Khaliah Hines added 18 points while the Jayhawk’s leading scorer, Tiana Gipson, had 13.
Four Blue Devils scored in double figures. Aliyah Myers had 14 points including 10 of 12 free throws while Kamryn Estell added 13, Brodi Byrd 12 and Tiaira Earnest 11. Estell had seven rebounds and Byrd and Myers six each for the Blue Devils, who lost the battle of the boards 43-38.
Despite converting just 8-of-33 shots for 24.2 percent, the Blue Devils only trailed 39-34 at the half and pulled even 39-39 early in the third quarter. However, they couldn’t overcome 11 second-half turnovers (20 total) and Highland’s hot shooting the final two quarters.
“I thought we shot ourselves in the foot a few times,” McKinstry said. “We handled their press very well, specifically Adoreya Williams and Destiny Zamudio. They did a great job with that. Highland had some girls who stepped up and made big jump shots and free throws that we were hoping they wouldn’t make. So hats off to them.”
For the second straight year, the game was marred by fouls – 58 total. KCKCC capitalized on 33 Highland fouls by making 30 of 40 free throws while the Scotties were 24-of-35 on 25 KCKCC fouls. However, only Byrd and two Scotties fouled out.
Nearly 100 KCKCC student-athletes will be recognized during Academic Achievement Night ceremonies between the women’s and men’s games against Johnson County Wednesday. JCCC defeated Hesston 83-36 Saturday while Labette was beating Fort Scott 88-41.