by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Blue Devils will take a three-game winning streak into the start of Jayhawk Conference play next week.
Fired by a near-record 3-point shooting exhibition by freshman guard Taylor Turner, the Blue Devils (8-12) closed out non-conference play Friday with a 72-52 win over Park University’s Developmental squad. Jayhawk Conference play gets underway Wednesday when KCKCC plays host to Labette in 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. contests.
A 6-1 guard from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Turner knocked down 10-of-23 3-pointers, equaling the third best 3-point performance in KCKCC history.
Maurice Lamar twice scored 11 treys back in the 1988-1989 season. The near record effort came just five days after Turner had eight 3-pointers in a 26-point effort at North Central Missouri on Monday. Turner finished with a career high 32 points.
“Taylor made the shots and our guys did a good job of getting him the ball,” said KCKCC coach Kelley Newton, whose Blue Devils had 20 assists on 26 field goals. “Our overall shot selection was pretty good. We were patient and created good shots and opened up rebounding opportunities.”
The Blue Devils got several other outstanding performances in the win. Daiyon Taylor, a 6-6 freshman forward from Detroit, was big in KCKCC building a 37-26 halftime lead. Taking just five shots, he made them all for 10 points and hauled down eight rebounds in the opening half.
Kelyn Bolton, a 6-2 freshman from Shawnee Mission East, orchestrated the offense, dealing out a career high 11 assists; freshman guard Calvin Slaughter of Macon, Georgia, flirted with a double-double, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists; and Arother Ratliff had 11 points and three 3-pointers, two of which were instrumental in stopping a Park comeback.
The game was tied three times in the first half, the third at 13-13 before the Blue Devils scored 11 straight points in a 3 ½ minute spurt.
Taylor spearheaded the surge with three baskets, DuVonte’ Beard had one and Turner a trey in opening a 24-13 lead on the way to the 37-26 halftime lead.
The Pirates twice got back within five points early in the second half but each time Ratliff answered with clutch 3-pointers before Turner drained three treys in a row for a commanding 61-46 lead.
The Blue Devils dominated the rebounding 46-31 thanks to eight each from Beard, Taylor and Slaughter.
“We did a good job rebounding,” Newton said. “Daiyon was really good. It was good to see him get rebounds out of his area. I was also happy to see Calvin Slaughter being so active on the boards. Park is not a bad JV team. They challenged us on the inside and hurt us in close before we were able to do a good job of getting to our spots offensively and defensively.”
Two-thirds of the KCKCC offense came on 16 3-pointers, the most by a Blue Devil team in nearly a decade. In addition to Turner’s 10, Slaughter and Ratliff had three apiece as the Blue Devils put up 45 3-pointers (.356) and 20 attempts from inside the arc, of which they made 10.
