by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women’s basketball season came to an end Saturday but not without a fight.
Facing No. 3 ranked Highland, the only undefeated team in NJCAA Division II, on the Scotties’ home floor, the Lady Blue Devils stayed stride for stride through one quarter and were down just nine at halftime before Highland pulled away for an 86-61 win.
The loss ended the Blue Devils’ season at 21-11 with 10 of the 11 losses to teams currently ranked in the Top 20 or in the Top 20 when they played.
“Extremely proud of our girls and their effort today,” KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry said. “They battled and made Highland work very hard to earn the win. The final score is not reflective of how competitive this game was. We did a great job of communicating and switching up defenses to make things difficult for Highland’s offense. In not for a couple of stretches that we turned the ball over and gave up some easy baskets, we played even with them.”
Defensively, Highland was held to a sub-standard 37.3 percent shooting from the field and 25.7 percent from 3-point, well back of KCKCC’s 45.5 percent for the game and .333 from the perimeter. The Blue Devils also had a 36-35 edge in rebounding.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome their old nemesis, turnovers – 31 in all which Highland converted into 31 points and 31 more shots (75-44). The Scotties also pulled down 15 offensive rebounds to four for KCKCC.
KCKCC led 9-8 midway through the first quarter and was tied 18-all after one quarter on the strength of sophomore Alix Wilson, who either scored or assisted on the Blue Devils’ final nine points and grabbed a pair of defensive rebounds.
But Highland took advantage of four KCKCC missed shots and four turnovers to start the second period and open a 26-18 lead. A Miya Ford trey and an Ashley Daniels free throw got KCKCC back to 26-24 only to have the Scotties finish the half with a 14-7 run and a 40-31 lead and the Blue Devils never got closer in the second half.
Lillie Moore led KCKCC with 19 points and six rebounds; Miya Ford scored 13 points and led in rebounds with seven; Nija Collier had 12 points and six rebounds; and sophomore Alix Wilson finished her Blue Devil career with nine points including two of KCKCC’s four treys.
Mariane De Caravalho, Highland’s All-American candidate, led the Scotties with 29 points and five rebounds.
The win advanced Highland (31-0) to the Region VI championship game against Johnson County (25-7) Wednesday at the Jack Hartman Arena in Park City with the winner moving on to the national tournament at North Arkansas Community College in Harrison. JCCC gained the title game with a 57-46 win at Labette Saturday after the two teams had split in regular season play.