by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
From the kettle into the fire. A 79-76 overtime winner over No. 10 ranked Johnson County Saturday, Kansas City Kansas Community College takes on No. 6 Highland Tuesday for the NJCAA DII Region VI championship and a berth in the national tournament.
Game time is 5 p.m. at Hartman Arena in Park City just north of Wichita and the contest will be streamed on the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference website (www.kjccc.org).
It will be the third meeting between the two nationally ranked powers. The No. 7 Blue Devils (27-4) won at home 78-72 Feb. 2, the Scotties (24-4) took a 94-88 home court decision Feb. 20.
“It’s a great opportunity for our girls,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “They’ve worked hard to be in this position. We know it will be a hard fought battle against a great team and great program. Hopefully, we’ve got enough left in the tank to get the job done.”
Highland won the most recent meeting by limiting KCKCC to just three 3-point goals and nine attempts, both season lows – a huge contrast to the Blue Devils’ 17 threes against Johnson County.
Fouls also played a huge part in the game. Five Blue Devils fouled out; Highland lost three. KCKCC scoring leader Nija Collier played just nine minutes.
The game matches the top four scorers in the Jayhawk Conference. Highland’s Stefania Chiziane leads the conference in scoring at 17.8; teammate Janiya Davis is third (16.7). KCKCC counters with Colllier, who is second at 17.5; and Lillie Moore, fourth at 15.0. The Scotties also boast the most accurate 3-pointer shooter in the league. Second in the conference with 81 threes, Tiana Gipson is shooting at a 44.8 percent clip. Collier is next at 40.7.
To the winner will go a spot in the NJCAA DII national tournament to be played March 19-23 in Harrison, Arkansas, about 30 minutes south of Branson, Missouri. Highland finished third in last year’s national while KCKCC won its only appearance in the national in 2016.