Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Eleven times in the John Ontjes era has the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team rallied from a double-figure deficit to win a game.
Hutchinson's comeback in its Jayhawk Conference opener against Coffeyville on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena was the biggest comeback of them all.
The No. 12-ranked Blue Dragons rallied from 21 points down in the third quarter defeat the Coffeyville Red Ravens 70-63. Hutchinson improves to 2-0 (1-0 Jayhawk West) while Coffeyville falls to 1-1 (0-1 Jayhawk East). Hutchinson won its series-best seventh-consecutive game over the Ravens.
The Blue Dragons' previous largest comeback of the Ontjes era was 16 points against NEO on November 6, 2016. The Dragons won that game 65-61. Trailing Coffeyville 35-19 at halftime on Wednesday, the Blue Dragons trailed the Red Ravens by 21 points twice, the latest at 45-24 with 5:26 remaining in the third quarter.
Before that moment, the Blue Dragons struggled mightily offensively to the tune of 7 of 33 shooting from the floor and 5 of 15 from the free-throw line. Also, the Dragons had no answer for stopping Raven center Faith Simpson, who scored Coffeyville's first 11 points of the game and had six points to start the third quarter.
The comeback started with a Lojong Gore free throw with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter. That charity toss quietly sparked a 16-0 Hutchinson scoring run over a span of 4 minutes, 35 seconds. Two more Gore free throws with 1:41 to play in the third cut the deficit to single digits at 45-36. Kate Ogle capped the scoring run with a 3-pointer with 1:11 left to cut the Raven lead to 45-40.
Hutchinson trailed 48-41 after three quarters and 50-44 with 9:11 to go.
The Dragons went on a 9-0 run over the next 2 minutes, 56 seconds, taking the lead for good (51-50) when Tor'e Alford buried a 3-pointer with 7:47 to play. Nafatomata Haidara's inside hoop with 6:15 left gave the Dragons a 55-50 lead. The Ravens never got the game back to a one-possession game after that.
After trailing 45-24, the Blue Dragons outscored the Red Ravens 46-18 over the final 14:45 of the game. The Dragons closed the game shooting 12 of 20 from the floor with five 3-pointers and 19 of 27 from the line. Coffeyville was 6 of 18 from the floor with one 3-pointer and 4 of 13 from the foul line over that same stretch.
Freshman K.K. Adams hit four key 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 16 points to lead Hutchinson. Alford scored 15 points and added a career-high-tying eight rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Gore finished with career-high 14 points and eight rebounds. She started the game 2 for 7 from the free-throw line, but closed with eight-straight makes. Kalyn Ervin finished with seven points and Haidara had six points.
The Blue Dragons shot 19 of 53 overall (37.1 percent) going 8 of 24 from 3-point range and 24 of 42 from the foul line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 40-36 and they committed 21 turnovers.
Simpson had a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds to pace Coffeyville. Dariauna Carter finished with 15 points.
The Ravens were 24 of 54 shooting, going 3 of 12 from distance and 12 of 21 from the free-throw line. The Ravens committed 27 turnovers.
Coffeyville started the game on a 9-0 run. Hutch didn't score its first points until the 4:51 mark of the period on an Adams 3-pointer.
The Blue Dragons will close out their three-game season-opening homestand with a 5:30 p.m. KJCCCC matchup against the Neosho County Panthers on Saturday at the Sports Arena.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 15-12 all-time against Coffeyville, 7-2 at the Sports Arena … The victory was John Ontjes' 200th in a regular-season Jayhawk Conference game. He is now 200-40 in regular-season conference games. … The Blue Dragons owned a 52-8 advantage in points of the bench and 30-19 in points off turnovers.