Hutchinson CC Sports Information
DODGE CITY – Sophomore Kamryn Thomas dropped in a career-high five 3-pointers to power the Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team to a victory over the Dodge City Conquistadors on Saturday.
Thomas led four Blue Dragons in double figures with a career-high 23 points as Hutchinson built a 10-point halftime lead and never let Dodge City back into the contest in an 89-73 victory at the DC3 Student Activities Center.
Hutchinson, which is receiving votes in the latest NJCAA rankings, improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the KJCCC. The Blue Dragons play their final non-conference game of the regular season at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday against NOC-Tonkawa. Dodge City is now 2-5 and 0-1 in the lead.
The Blue Dragons rebounded from their first loss of the season one week ago to NOC-Tonkawa by shooting a career-high 54.1 percent from the field (33 of 61).
Thomas was 8 of 11 shooting overall and 5 of 6 from distance on Saturday. He is the first Blue Dragon since Aaron Franklin and Aaron Potter to have at lead five 3-pointers in a game. Franklin and Potter and six and five 3-pointers, respectively, February 22 last season against Seward County.
Valentino Simon had 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line. Simon had five rebounds.
J.P. Ricks had 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Zoe Holman tied his season high with 12 points. Holman also tied a season high with five assists. Dre Weathers and Dallas Whitney had seven points each.
The Blue Dragons were 6 of 18 from the 3-point line and 17 of 25 from the foul line. The Dragons out-rebounded Dodge City 30-29. Hutchinson had 15 turnovers.
Dodge City shot 41.3 percent (26 of 63), just 40.0 percent in the second half. The Conquistadors were 7 of 21 from the 3-point line and 14 of 17 from the free-throw line.
Chevalier Emery scored a game-high 20 points to lead Dodge City. Marius Carney had 11 points. Dodge had 21 turnovers.
The Blue Dragons scored the first five points of the game and never relinquished the lead. A Weathers' dunk with 15:07 to play gave the Dragons a 13-7 lead. The Conquistadors pulled within 20-18 with 11:19 to play in the half. Simon had a dunk and later two free throws to push the Hutchinson lead to 24-18 with 10:10 to go.
A Simon layup with 8:50 to go upped the Dragon lead to 29-20. Simon scored again with 8:01 to go for a 31-20 lead. The Dragon lead reached double figures for the first time at 41-31 with 4:17 left on a Thomas 3-pointer. Dodge city pulled within 41-35.
Leading 46-40, the Dragons closed the first half with a flourish. Holman scored with 22 seconds to play for an eight-point lead. Dodge City missed a 3-point goal and Hutchinson sped down the floor and Holman's layup just beat the halftime buzzer for a 50-40 Dragon lead at halftime.
The Conquistadors pulled within seven points at 55-48 with 15:40 left in the second half and got within 55-50 with 15:24 to play. A Weathers' dunk stopped that advance. A Whitney dunk with 13:18 left again pushed the Hutchinson lead to 59-52.
Leading 61-56 midway through the second half, Holman had a steal and breakaway dunk to hold off the Conquistadors once again. The lead was again pushed to double figures on a Simon bucket with 9:15 left that gave the Dragons a 67-57 lead.
Dodge City made one more run and closed within 73-67. Hutchinson finished off the game with a 16-6 run to close out the victory.
GAME NOTES: The Blue Dragons need one more victory to reach milestone win No. 1,900. … The Dragons won their third-straight KJCCC opener. … The Dragons are 125-68 all-time against Dodge City and 54-33 in games in Dodge City.