Posts Tagged ‘Blue Dragon women’s basketball’

Blue Dragon women bounced in first round

Thursday, March 22nd, 2018

The Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team made their eighth

appearance to the NJCAA Division 1 Women’s National Championship on Monday.

However, the trip in Lubbock, Texas was cut short after the Blue Dragons faced a first-round exit, losing to the San Jacinto-North Gators 62-51.

HutchCC, the No. 18 seed, had high hopes coming into the tournament, as the Blue Dragons finished the season with an impressive 27-6 record. But to start the tournament they had to face a similarly-matched San Jacinto team. The Blue Dragons struggled scoring immensely, making only one of their first 12 shots.

At one point in the first quarter, Hutchinson didn’t score for nearly five minutes, leaving San Jacinto to increase its lead.

The second quarter was better for the Blue Dragons, but they found themselves down 13 to end the half. The second half was an uphill climb, as they tried to grind out points.

After a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter, the Blue Dragons found themselves within four points, 47-43. However, the Gators answered with their own 8-0 run, and from there, the Blue Dragons simply couldn’t get back into the game.

The Gators shot an even 50 percent from the field, while the Blue Dragons shot 34.8 percent. For Hutchinson, Dejanae Roebuck was the leading scorer with 24 points.

She also had 12 rebounds, which led to her 14th double-double this season. Tia Bradshaw finished with 12 points and Kelsey Brett had five.

The Blue Dragons finished with a 27-7 record and are now 17-10 all-time in national tournament games.

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Editorial: Student Section Slump

Wednesday, March 7th, 2018

Hutchinson Community College has had some amazing athletic talent from all over the country, and even from other countries. So what is the reasoning for the decline of student support?

Is it busy schedules, work, or is everyone just being a bump on a log while there are HutchCC sport events going on? Whatever the excuse, the Blue Dragons should have a lot more student fans in their audience. Lately though, that has not been the case.

The HutchCC men’s and women’s basketball teams have been phenomenal this year, but who was there to witness?

Sure, there may be some party or hang out off campus somewhere, but isn’t it a better idea to not risk anything and still go to a game for fun?

In the fall, the excuse might’ve been that the football games were on Saturdays when students would go to their hometown, but for basketball, there isn’t really an excuse not to go when the games are spread out through the weekdays.

Even though this is a two-year college, that doesn’t mean that you can’t be proud of it. You are a student here at HutchCC, so why wouldn’t you cheer for your school team?

There’s no rule that says you can’t root for your hometown when they have a game, and the Blue Dragons too. Show that same school pride you had for your high school and support your peers.

If you still have too busy of a schedule, then that is a real issue that could possibly be fixed by managing time better and more efficiently for school work.

We aren’t asking you to quit your job or drop all of your homework. Just that it would be nice to see some students at the home games cheering on the teams.

The athletes would probably appreciate it more than you know and might be more excited and pumped up if they hear the crowd.

It’s sad when faculty and family, community members are the majority of a gymnasium. So don’t be a bump on a log. Go out and support your school, people, it’s just that simple.

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Battle of the sexes: ‘Scouts’ vs. HutchCC women’s basketball

Friday, March 2nd, 2018

By Brenna Eller
Opinion Page Editor

The Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team has a record of 26-5 so far in the season. Who do they have to thank, at least in part, for their drive and hard work other than each other?

Well there is a group of male HutchCC students called, “The Scout Team” that could answer that question.

Blue Dragons coach John Ontjes decided to push the girls and make them work harder, so his idea was to find a group of male HutchCC students who aren’t doing collegiate athletics, but played in high school or were involved in athletics, and practice plays and defensive strategies with the girls.

Before games, the male students scrimmage the women’s team to boost their skills and abilities.

Sara Cramer, a freshman guard from Dighton, said, “It makes us tougher by raising the intensity of practices because they never let up.”

Ti Kimbro, a redshirt sophomore, mentioned how much fun the boys are.

“They make us want to play, and they get us hyped up when we don’t feel like practicing,” Kimbro said.

In addition to that, freshman Coretta Hopkins said, “Shout out to my boy, Chase Swanson.”

If that doesn’t explain the relationship the guys and women’s basketball team have with each other, not much else would.

One of the HutchCC males that helps the girls is Chase Swanson, a Buhler graduate. He began doing this because he knew the coaches growing up. His dad, Ryan, was a coach at HutchCC. He also works in the AD office under Josh Gooch and Steve Kappenman.

Since Swanson spends so much time with them, he was more than happy to accept the offer to become part of the “Scout Team”.

“I had been injured a lot my senior year of high school and couldn’t play, so it was a chance for me to get back to it,” Swanson said. “Plus, all of the girls are really nice and funny, so it’s really relaxed at practice and we joke around.”

Swanson also said that he wants to participate again next year.

The scrimmages are not YMCA kind of basketball, it’s like watching an actual basketball game. One of the assistant coaches creates plays for the guys and tells them what to do, while the other assistant coach calls plays for the Blue Dragons.

With the agility of the boys, and the intuition and teamwork of the girls, it makes for a healthy competition. The boys are expected to play rough, so the girls have to push themselves and challenge themselves in a way that other women’s teams won’t likely be able to do.

“They’re the best people we’re going to play against”, said sophomore guard Tia Bradshaw.

When asked how hard the boys push the girls and how they make the team better, Cramer answered, “They have more skill set and it brings a lot of diversity.”

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