by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College will start the second half of the 2019-2020 women’s basketball season ranked No. 2 in NJCAA Division II when the Lady Blue Devils play host to Southeast Nebraska Thursday at 4 p.m.
No. 1 Kirkwood (15-1), the only team to defeat KCKCC, remained No. 1 despite suffering its first loss at the hands of Illinois Central 80-74 Dec. 30. Lincoln Land is No. 3 followed by two Jayhawk Conference rivals, No. 4 Johnson County (14-1) and No. 5 Highland (13-0).
“For a young and inexperienced group, to be 14-1 playing a good competitive schedule and traveling as much as we have, I’m really proud of them for the position they’ve put themselves in,” fifth-year coach Joe McKinstry said. “Our first semester record does not reflect the ups and downs that this group has had to overcome and I think that speaks to their talent and ability as a group.”
Indeed, the Blue Devils played the first half of the season with only one returning member of the 2019 national championship team, 5-6 guard Brodi Byrd. They’ve also battled through several injuries and in fact, had only eight healthy players in their last game against Southeast Illinois in St. Louis.
The key to KCKCC’s first half success has been balance. Seven different players have led the scoring and eight have either led or shared the lead in rebounding. Even more impressive, 10 Blue Devils are averaging 5.8 points a game or better.
Kamryn Estell, a 6-1 forward from Belton and the Blue Devils’ lone 6-footer, leads offensively. Second in the Jayhawk Conference in scoring at 14.5, she’s also fifth in rebounds (8.3) and fourth in field goal accuracy (.546). Byrd at 11.2 points and Anija Frazier, who is averaging 13.8 points and 6.0 rebounds after missing the first 11 games, are the other Blue Devils in double figures.
Five guards are bunched closely led by 5-7 Aliyah Myers, who is averaging 8.9 points, followed 5-6 Tiaira Earnest, 6.9; 5-5 Adoreya Williams, 6.7; 5-6 Jada Mayberry, 6.6; and 5-5 Destiny Zamudio, 6.3; and 5-11 forward Mercer Roberts, 5.8 and 6.4 rebounds.
Despite the lack of size, the Blue Devils are outrebounding foes by nearly four a game thanks to contributions from guards Earnest (4.3), Byrd (4.2), Mayberry (4.1) and Myers (3.9). Byrd and Myers lead in assists with 2.7 per game. Averaging 78.9 points a game, the Blue Devils are giving up 62.7 points per contest.
In addition to playing host to Southeast Nebraska Thursday, the Blue Devils entertain Metropolitan Saturday at 6 p.m. and they finish non-conference play with three games on the road before the conference opener at Labette Jan. 22.
“I think that game on Jan. 22 will tell us if we’re a contender or not,” McKinstry said. “Right now we’re nowhere near where we need to be and we haven’t shown what we’re capable of on a consistent level. But that’s a good thing as long as we understand and accept the responsibility that we can be better. We have five games to work out some kinks and get ourselves back in shape before we start right off with a very tough road game at Labette. Win or lose there, we’ll find out if we’re really here to play for something meaningful at the end of the season.”