Field goals by Hazlett, Tauai and Wagler erase 68-63 deficit in final minute
by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Just when things looked the bleakest for Kansas City Kansas Community College women’s basketball team Wednesday, reserve guard Whitney Hazlett made the biggest play of her career and veterans Brie Tauai and Brooklyn Wagner followed with game-deciding field goals.
Trailing 68-63 at Brown Mackie, the Blue Devils lost starting point guard Kayla Horn with just 1:14 remaining. That’s when Hazlett, a 5-6 sophomore from Mill Valley, came off the bench to drain a 3-pointer, easily the biggest basket of her two years at KCKCC, and the veterans took it from there.
“We got another defensive stop and then a great catch and finish by Brie Tauai on a pass from Millie Shade to tie the game at 68-68,” said KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry. “Brown Mackie then turned the ball over, we called a timeout with 12 seconds left, drew up a play that the girls executed perfectly and Brooklyn Wagner finished with the basket that gave us a 70-68 win with six seconds remaining.”
The win boosted the Blue Devils’ record to 17-9 overall and 5-3 in Region VI play just one game back of No. 9 ranked Highland (6-2), which invades the KCKCC Field House at Sophomore Day Saturday at 2 p.m. The win also kept KCKCC 2½ games ahead of Fort Scott (3-6) for the all-important fourth place regional finish and a first round home playoff berth. In other action Wednesday, Johnson County (8-1) all but wrapped up the Region VI and Jayhawk championships, avenging its only loss of the season with a 90-76 win over second place Labette (7-2).
Brie Tauai turned in one of her best performances of the season, leading all scorers with 24 points on sizzling 11-of-15 shooting while grabbing five rebounds.
“At halftime, I challenged Brie and she responded great,” McKinstry said. “She was huge the second half.”
Millie Shade added 12 points and a game high eight rebounds; Brooklyn Wagler missed only one of five shots, scoring 11 points, grabbing seven rebounds and leading in assists with eight; and Hazlett matched her career high with 10 points including KCKCC’s only 3-pointer of the second half.
The Blue Devils were a sizzling 25-of-38 for 65.8 percent on two-point field goal attempts but just 4-of-21 from 3-point (.190). They were also guilty of 17 turnovers and outrebounded 30-28. Leading 36-29 at halftime, KCKCC fell behind 49-48 entering the final quarter in a see-saw battle that had nine ties and 11 lead changes.
“On a night when we weren’t very good, it was nice to make enough plays on both ends of the floor and to come away with a region victory on the road,” McKinstry said. “We’ve been in this positon a few times this year each time we’ve handled the situation a little bit better. So I was happy for them to feel that reward for sticking with it and battling – a good road win for us.”