By Steve Carpenter
Hutchinson CC Sports Information Director

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team has won the past two Jayhawk West championships. Yet, the 2021-22 Blue Dragons feel like they have plenty to prove as the new season is ready to start on Tuesday.

While winning conference titles, the past two seasons didn't end up the way the Blue Dragons wanted. In both 2020 and 2021, Hutchinson was eliminated in the Region VI Tournament semifinals. The 2020 Blue Dragons still earned an at-large bid to the NJCAA Tournament, which was ultimately canceled by the Coronavirus pandemic. The Dragons didn't receive a bid last season.

Thus, the desire by the Blue Dragons to prove they still belong amongst the Jayhawk Conference's and NJCAA's elite teams.

The Blue Dragons open the new season on Tuesday night against the Bethany College Junior Varsity at 6 p.m. at the Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons will receive stern tests this weekend in the BSN Sports Tipoff Classic from Mineral Area and NEO on Friday and Saturday with both games starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Blue Dragons have five players returning from last year's 19-5 team that averaged 71.0 points offensively and 58.5 points defensively. Now is his 15th season, Blue Dragon head coach John Ontjes adds eight new faces to the roster.

"We have a talented group and we have the potential to be good at the end," said Ontjes who has a record of 394-82 with the Blue Dragons. "We have a long way to go. We are still working on our chemistry and still trying to figure out how we are going to play."

Chief among the group who wants to prove a point is super sophomore Tor'e Alford, who returns to Hutchinson for her third season as a Blue Dragon. The 5-foot-8 guard from Derby was Hutchinson's leading scorer last season at 12.4 points and she was among the top 3-point shooters in the nation at 47.3 percent. Alford also averaged 2.49 assists and 1.50 steals per game.

Missing significant time in both of her first two seasons is one more reason for Alford's desire to lead the Dragons on a deep postseason run.

"Tor'e has been very motivated," Ontjes said. "She is in better shape. She has some things to still prove here and she's doing a great job being a leader for this team.

Of the returning players, four are guards – Alford, Kalyn Ervin, Ishante Suttington and Yana Grassity. The fifth returnee is center Lani Morris.

Ervin, a 5-7 guard from Indianapolis, looks to keep her late-season momentum going. Averaging 8.4 points per game for the season in 2021, over her final 10 games of the regular season, Ervin averaged right at 14 points per game and became a top threat for Ontjes down the stretch.

"Kalyn has become a lot better player offensively," Ontjes said. "She will probably be one of our best 3-point shooters this year. She has come along defensively and she's got to really early on take that role for us and make some perimeter shots."

Suttington, a 5-7 guard from Kansas City, Kansas, averaged 9.3 points last season. Grassity, a 5'4 point guard from Topeka, averaged 6.3 points and 3.6 assists, but missed the final 14 games of the season because of injury. Grassity is out until most likely January.

Morris, a 6-5, center from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, averaged 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in limited duty last season.

"Ishante and Lani have also become better players," Ontjes said. "They may play different roles this season. Ishante had a great summer and she is very athletic and strong. Now she needs to be aggressive offensively for us and one of our best defensive players."

As the season begins, Ontjes is looking several position groupings, but as of Game 1, the veteran coach has an idea of the breakdown of his roster.

Alford is the obvious choice at the point, especially with the early-season absence of Grassity. Also look for freshman homeschool product Janaya Washington to see significant minutes at the point.

"They will be a different kind of duo at the point," Ontjes said. "Tor'e is a grind-it-out type of point guard where Janaya likes to play fast.

Ervin will start at the two-guard. Freshman Hayley Hughes (5-9, Hutchinson Trinity) and Mya Williams (5-8, Waxahachie, Texas) will also play at the two-guard spot.

Suttington will start at the 3-guard spot with help from Mele Kailahi (5-9, sophomore, East Palo Alto, California), who is a transfer from McLennan College.

Down low, an injury to 6-2 freshman Chanteese Craig (Fort Wayne, Ind.) is forcing some changes from the original play. With Morris, expect to see Kailahi, Hughes and Kali Howard (5-11, freshman, Zachary, Louisiana) to work in the paint.

The big change for the 2021-22 season is the league format. The KJCCC Division I teams will play a double round-robin schedule, meaning Hutch will play home-and-home series with all 12 league opponents. Hutchinson will have six non-conference games and will open league play on the road on November 17 at Independence.

Hutchinson starts the season ranked No. 21 in the preseason NJCAA rankings and was picked to finish second behind Butler in the Jayhawk Conference.