Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Ignited by four first-quarter 3-point goals, the No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team jumped out to a 22-point first-quarter lead over Cloud County in its Region VI Tournament quarterfinal game and never looked back.
The Jayhawk Conference champion Blue Dragons advanced to the Region VI Semifinals after defeating Cloud County 90-56 on Tuesday night at the Sports Arena.
The top-seeded Blue Dragons (31-0) will play the Barton Cougars at 1 p.m. on Friday in the first of two semifinal matchups at the Hutchinson Sports Arena. Cloud County ends its season at 15-16.
The Blue Dragons tied for the fourth longest-win streak in program history, matching a 31-game streak in 2016-17.
Two early Kiki Smith 3-pointers helped the Blue Dragons jump out to a 14-2 lead. The lead grew to 18 with 2:24 left in the period on a Jackson basket. The Dragons then scored the final seven points of the quarter – a Smith layup, Kahlen Norris 3-pointer and Akaysha Muggeridge layup to build a 32-10 lead after 10 minutes. The Blue Dragons shot 66.7 percent (12 of 18) in the opening quarter and was 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
The lead grew to 30 with 6:30 to play in the second quarter when Peyton Mosley hit a transition 3-point goal for a 43-13 lead.
Five players scored in double figures for the Blue Dragons led by Jackson's team-high 16 points on 7 of 11 shooting.
Smith hit 3 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with 15 points. Smith surpassed Cynthia Petke for second place on the Blue Dragon freshman scoring list with 563 points. Smith was 6 of 9 shooting overall and she added three steals and two assists.
Muggeridge and Monae Duffy added 12 points each. Muggeridge had a pair of 3-pointers and Duffy led the Dragons with eight rebounds. Journey Armstead finished with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Bree Horyna had nine points and six rebounds. Norris and Mosley had six points each.
The Blue Dragons shot 49.3 percent for the game (35 of 71), hitting 12 of 29 from 3-point range and 8 of 11 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Cloud County 39-38. The Blue Dragons had just six turnovers.
Bailey Burns had a game-high 18 points while Maimouna Sissoko had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead Cloud County.
The Thunderbirds shot 32.3 percent (20 of 62), hitting 5 of 25 from 3-point range and 11 of 13 from the foul line. The Thunderbirds had 17 turnovers.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 67-38 all-time in the Region VI Tournament, including 21-17 in the quarterfinal round. … The Dragons are 51-28 all-time against Cloud County all-time and 4-2 against the Thunderbirds in Region VI Tournament matchups. … Blue Dragon head coach John Ontjes is now 39-9 all-time in Region VI tournament games. … Journey Armstead tied Ellington Spears for seventh place on the career assist list with 323. … Hutchinson's 32-point first quarter was the highest scoring first quarter of the season and eighth 30-point quarter this season. … The Blue Dragons have now won 16-straight home-court games, which is the 10th-longest win streak at the Arena in team history. … The Blue Dragons had their ninth game with 10 or more 3-pointers, eight game with less than 10 turnovers and 15th game of 20 or more assists. … The 31 wins tie for sixth most in program history.