by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
The countdown to the 2018 Jayhawk Conference season is underway for the Kansas City Kansas Community College men’s basketball team.
With less than three weeks before the start of conference play, six non-conference games remain starting Saturday against On Point Academy in El Reno, Okla.
The Blue Devils then return home for the inaugural Blue Devil Classic Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13. KCKCC will square off against Strength N Motion Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Penn Valley Saturday at 4 p.m. Fort Scott is the fourth team in the Classic and will play Penn Valley Friday and Strength N Motion Saturday.
The Blue Devils will also play host to Washburn’s junior varsity Tuesday, Jan. 16, and then play at Saint Mary junior varsity Jan. 19 and North Central Missouri Jan. 22 before beginning Region VI Division II play at Johnson County Wednesday, Jan. 24.
While the young Blue Devils (only two sophomores) are just 4-10, it promises to be another wide open conference race. KCKCC did not win the Region VI regular season standings two years ago but surged to the division championship and a berth in the national Division II tournament.
Four teams are closely bunched at the halfway mark of the season. Hesston (10-4) and Highland (11-5) lead with Fort Scott and Labette close behind at 10-6. KCKCC is fifth with Johnson County sixth at 4-11.
Three Blue Devils rank among the Top Five in individual Region VI statistics at the halfway point. Tyson Beringer, a 6-9 forward from SanTan Valley, Ariz., is the runaway leader in blocked shots with 2.6 per game, which is double that of his nearest rival. Beringer also is third in rebounding with 6.0 per game.
Scoring leader Soloman Thomas, a 5-11 freshman guard from Hogan Prep, is fifth in scoring at 14.7 while 6-0 Olathe East freshman Dion Union is fifth in 3-point percentage (.383) and 10th in scoring at 14.3 per game.
Guards have provided much of the Blue Devils’ 72.4-point scoring average. In addition to Thomas and Union, 6-3 Sterling Hicks of St. Joseph Lafayette is averaging 9.8 points and 5-11 sophomore Zion Buckner of Sedalia is scoring at an 8.8 per game clip.
The front line is led by 6-6 DuVonte Beard of Ruskin, who is averaging 6.7 points and 4.2 rebounds; Josiah Laws of Cumming, Georgia, 3.9 points and 4.1 rebounds; and Beringer, who is averaging g 5.6 points in addition to his six rebounds a contest.
As a team, the Blue Devils have shot the ball well, 44.1 percent to .416 for opponents but have been hurt by turnovers (17.1 per game) and rebounding, where they’ve been outrebounded 39.9-33.1.