Tag: KCKCC men’s basketball

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

Southeast Nebraska came into the Kansas City Kansas Community College Field House with the physique of an NBA team and made the most of it Wednesday night..

Rotating a quartet of front-liners ranging in height from 6-8 to 6-11, the Storm effectively shut down KCKCC’s inside game in an 89-82 win that wasn’t decided until the final two minutes.

The Blue Devils led 76-75 with 2:40 remaining but two layups by Tyson Lewis put Southeast ahead to stay 79-76 and the Storm protected the lead by making 10 free throws in the final two minutes, The loss dropped KCKCC to 2-4 heading into a 6 p.m. road game at John Wood University Friday.

KCKCC led Southeast by as many as 13 points midway through the first half only to have the Storm close the gap to 38-36 at halftime and set up a furious see-saw second half that had 10 ties and 11 lead changes.

In the end, it was the Storm’s size and bulk that made the difference. Not only did Southeast outscore the Blue Devils 60-38 “in the paint,” the Storm limited Blue Devils front line to 19 points on 8-of-24 shooting. Meanwhile, Southeast’s four big men combined for 33 points by knocking down 14 of 22 field goal attempts.

The Storm also shot exceptionally well the second half, 20-of-30 field goal attempts for 66.7 percent while the Blue Devils got off 10 more shots, making 17 for 42.5 percent. Southeast finished at 57.4 percent for the game to .405 for KCKCC.

Guards provided most of the Blue Devils’ offense led by sophomores Deron McDaniel and DeAngelo Bell.

McDaniel led all scorers with 27 points, 21 of them coming on 7-of-11 3-pointers, while Bell had three treys in a 15-point effort.

Trey Bates added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and shared the lead in assists with Zach Nelson, who also had six points and four steals. Caleb Jones scored nine points and he and Robert Rhodes shared rebounding honors with eight each.

Lewis led Southeast with 23 points, 17 in the second half, while 6-8 Much Biel dominated inside with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

It was one of the biggest comebacks in Kansas City Kansas Community College basketball history. Unfortunately, it was not a triumphant comeback.

Trailing by 18 points with 15 minutes remaining, the Blue Devils forged a 94-94 tie before free throws provided William Penn’s junior varsity a 97-94 win in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Saturday.

The loss dropped the Blue Devils to 2-3 with all three losses decided in the final seconds. They resume action Wednesday when they play host to Southeast Nebraska at 7 p.m. in a game that will be streamed on the KCKCC Blue Devil website.

“We didn’t come prepared and that’s on me,” KCKCC coach Brandon Burgette said. ”We like to use these games to get ourselves going but William Penn is not your typical JV team. They’ve got some good players, That’s why their varsity (13-1) is ranked No. 2 in the nation. They are a good team and beat us in every way from beginning to the end. I’m proud of how hard we fought but the effort wasn’t enough. We have to get better.”

The Statesmen took command early, jumping out to a 11-6 lead in the first five minutes and expanding it to 54-44 at halftime and 65-47 with 15 minutes remaining. The Blue Devils mustered one comeback midway through the second half, closing to 75-69 only to have it fizzle out when William Penn went on an 11-0 run for an 86-69 bulge.

The Blue Devils were still down 91-80 before making a 14-3 comeback to get the game even. Layups by DeAngelo Bell and Trey Bates and a dunk off a steal by Caleb Jones made it 93-92 and another Jones basket pulled KCKCC even 94-94 with 15.4 seconds left and a chance to win.

But an errant in-bounds pass, subsequent foul and William Penn free throw broke the deadlock and Bates’ 10-footer from in front of the basket bounced off the rim. The Statesmen added two clinching free throws with 2.3 left.

The Blue Devils shot the ball well – 49.3 percent from the field (36-73) and .407 from 3-point (11-27) but sabotaged the effort by converting only 11-of-28 free throws (.393) and turning the ball over 23 times.

KCKCC got big performances from former Harmon standout DeAngelo Bell, who had a career-high 21 points including 3-of-5 3-pointers, and Caleb Jones, who had a double-double with 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, Shaylon Janloo added 17 points, Trey Bates 13, Bryce Johnson 10 and Jermaine Yarbough 8. Bates also had eight assists and Bell four while Don’vae Ferguson took down six rebounds.

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC sports information

For the first time this season, Kansas City Kansas Community basketball coach Brandon Burgette could relax in the closing minutes of a Blue Devil game Thursday night.

Getting big production from a deep bench and shooting 53.9 percent from the field, the Blue Devils built leads of up to 28 points in a 99-73 win over Park University’s developmental team.

The win evened KCKCC’s record at 2-2 in a season that has seen the first three games decided in the final minute and in two cases, the final seconds.

The Blue Devils are right back in action tonight, playing William Penn’s junior varsity at 7:30 p.m. in Oskaloosa, Iowa. The KCKCC women’s team will also play William Penn at 5:30 p.m. and both games will be streamed on the William Penn website.

The one-sided win enabled Burgette to get a lot of production from a bench that provided nearly half (47 points) of the Blue Devil scoring and 16 of 23 assists. All 12 Blue Devils in uniform saw a least 11 minutes of action and 11 scored, 11 had assists and 10 had rebounds.

Five Blue Devils scored in double figures led by sophomores Jermaine Yarbough, who had a career-high 22 points and seven rebounds, and Caleb Jones, who had another double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Freshman Don’vae Ferguson just missed a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds, both career highs; Deron McDaniel added 15 points, and Bryce Johnson 14 points in just 11 minutes. Basehor-Linwood freshman Conner Younger led in assists with five; Trey Bates had four and Ezekiel Lyons three and seven points, all off the bench.

Guilty of a dozen first-half turnovers (16 total), the Blue Devils led only 25-20 midway through the first half. McDaniel scored nine of KCKCC’s first 17 points to get the lead before Yarbough almost single handedly broke the game open, scoring 10 straight points on two layups and two 3-pointers to expand the lead to 35-22. The Blue Devils led 48-20 at halftime.

“I think we let our guard down early,” Burgette said. “We have to come prepared no matter who we play and understand we have to compete and guard the right way. A good game, we are still learning and progressing. These games are getting us moving in the right direction.”