by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Hopes for a first-ever Region VI championship and a first-round playoff bye for Kansas City Kansas Community College’s men’s basketball team were dashed Wednesday by yet another faulty start.
Jumping off to an 18-4 lead in the first six minutes, Johnson County rode the fast start to a 79-71 win that pulled the Cavaliers into a tie for second place with the Blue Devils at 8-4 and earned JCCC a first round bye based on NJCAA power rankings and strength of schedule.
The Blue Devils will open playoff action at home Saturday at 2 p.m. against a Fort Scott team they swept, winning 78-56 at home and 59-47 just a week ago at Fort Scott.
“It’s an old cliché that it’s tough to beat a team three times but we’ve done it before,” KCKCC coach Kelley Newton said. The KCKCC-Fort Scott winner will then play at Johnson County Monday night.
Shooting at a torrid 60.7 percent clip, the Cavaliers ((23-7) stretched their first half lead to as many as 18 points with six minutes left before Mike Lee Jr. led a late KCKCC surge that cut the Blue Devils’ deficit to 47-37 at halftime and set up a couple of second half rallies.
The first came when KCKCC closed to 49-42 early in the second half only to have the Cavaliers reopen the lead to 60-44 with an 11-2 run. The second came in the closing minutes. Lane Hartley’s 3-pointer closed the KCKCC gap to 75-69 with 1:30 left but another Blue Devil 3-pointer fell short and the Cavaliers sealed the win with four free throws.
Lee led the Blue Devils with a big double-double, scoring a game-high 27 points including three 3-pointers and pulling down 10 rebounds and handing out six assists. It was one of two double-doubles for KCKCC. Jon Murray had 19 points and a game high 12 rebounds while Hartley had nine points on three treys.
“Very disappointing,” said Murray, the Region VI leader in rebounding. “We just can’t come out flat like we did tonight.” It was the third game in the last four that the Blue Devils have fell behind early but then made big comebacks.
JCCC won with balance with six players with nine or more points. The Cavaliers also had a 42-31 advantage in rebounding although their second half shooting tailed off to 35.7 percent.
“We’re a pretty good team (22-8) when we shoot the ball but just average when we don’t,” JCCC coach Mike Jeffers said.
Brown Mackie will play at Labette in Saturday’s other first round game with that winner playing at Highland Monday. Sweeping both KCKCC and JCCC, Highland both the Region VI (9-3) and Jayhawk Conference (6-2) championships.