by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
All too often when two heavyweights collide in a highly ballyhooed contest, it turns into a dud.
Not so Saturday when Johnson County put its No. 1 NJCAA ranking on the line against No. 6 Kansas City Kansas Community College, the Lady Cavaliers escaping with a 64-60 win in one of the most fiercely contested women’s games in KCKCC home court history.
Tied 11 times, the game had six lead changes before JCCC went ahead to stay 61-58 on Shelby Dahl’s 3-point field goal from the baseline with just 2:29 remaining and held on as the tiring Lady Blue Devils misfired on their final six shots from the field. Dahl finally put the game out of reach with two free throws with 18 seconds to go.
The lead was the 18th straight for the unbeaten Cavaliers while KCKCC’s loss came on the heels of an 82-71 setback at Highland Wednesday that dropped the Blue Devils to 16-2. At Missouri Valley JV Monday at 6:30 p.m., the Blue Devils do not return home until Jan. 30 when they are hosts to Labette.
Leading 17-15 after one quarter, KCKCC fell behind 32-22 late in the second period before Erin Anderson’s 3-point goal and two Arrica Daye layups cut the Blue Devil deficit to 32-30 and set up a second half in which neither team led by more than five points until the closing seconds.
Daye’s 3-pointer with 6:21 left gave KCKCC its last lead at 54-53. JCCC twice regained the lead but each time the Blue Devils battled back on game-tying goals by Brie Tauai and Anderson and missed a chance to go ahead before Dahl’s game-deciding trey with 2:29 left.
Freshman Brooklyn Wagler followed up her 23-point performance at Highland with 17 points and game high 14 rebounds to lead KCKCC. Anderson and Tauai each added 9 points and Valencia Scott, Cheyenne North and Daye 7 points apiece. North also had eight rebounds, three assists and five blocked shots.
With just eight players against a deep JCCC squad, the Blue Devils stayed close despite making just 9-of-35 second half shots for 25.7 percent. KCKCC also had a 48-44 rebound edge and committed nine turnovers to 13 for JCCC, which got 19 points from Dahl and 17 points, 10 rebounds and three assists from guard Erica Nelson.
“I’m very proud of the fight we showed tonight,” said KCKCC coach Joe McKinstry. “Obviously that’s a very good Johnson County team and it feels good to know that we are that close to being one of the top teams in the country. I think if we can learn from certain situations that we went through this week, our team can channel the hurt and disappointments that they feel right now and direct it so that we are a better team when it’s most important.”
The game was this season’s biggest scare for the Lady Cavaliers, who won two of three over KCKCC en route to winning the national title last year.
“We had a close one at Miami Dade before getting away at the end but this was the closest,” said JCCC coach Ben Conrad.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director for KCKCC.