DRAGONS RALLY FROM DOWN 12 TO DEFEAT BARTON

Morgan Browning reacts after a basketball during a 12-point comeback and a 56-51 win over Barton on Saturday at the Sports Arena. (Sammi Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

November 26, 2022

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team rallied from 12 points down early in the third quarter to score a huge Jayhawk Conference victory on Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Sophomore Kali Howard spurred the comeback, 14 of her game-high 16 points after the Dragons fell behind by 12 as the No. 12-ranked Blue Dragons rallied to defeat No. 15 Barton 56-51.

The Blue Dragons improved to 9-1 overall and 3-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons play their next two games on the road at Cowley (Wednesday) and Butler (next Saturday). Barton suffered its first loss of the season, dropping to 8-1, 2-1.

The comeback is the largest rally to win a game for the Blue Dragons since doing so from 11 points down against Labette on November 12, 2021.

After scoring a season-low six points in the first quarter and 17 points in the first half, the Blue Dragons trailed Barton 27-17 at halftime. Barton's Morgan Meyers scored with 8:33 to play in the third quarter and the Blue Dragons trailed 29-17. A methodical 16-7 Blue Dragon run pulled the Dragons within 36-33 in the final minute of the third quarter. The Dragons trailed 38-33 after three quarters.

Howard's strong fourth quarter started with a short baseline jumper that gave the Blue Dragons their first lead since the first quarter at 40-39 with 7:44 to play. Howard then made the biggest shot of the game, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, with 1:42 to play that gave the Dragons a 50-46 lead.

Howard was 4 of 4, including a 3-pointer, in the fourth quarter as Hutchinson used a season-high 23 points in the final quarter and outscored the Cougars 23-13.

For the game, Howard was 7 of 7 shooting to score 16 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds in 29 minutes.

Sophomore Morgan Browning also had a strong fourth quarter with six points in the fourth quarter, including the final four Hutchinson points of the game. Browning finished with 11 points.

Freshman Journey Armstead had eight points, seven rebounds and six assists. Monae Duffy had eight points and nine rebounds.

Held to a season-low 56 points, the Dragons shot 31.6 percent (18 of 57), hitting 5 of 25 from 3-point range and 15 of 23 at the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Barton 40-39.

The Blue Dragons held Barton 36 points under its season scoring average of 87.0 points per game. The Cougars shot 30.2 percent overall (19 of 63), going 5 of 16 from 3-point range and 8 of 11 from the free-throw line. The Dragons forced 18 Cougar turnovers and outscored Barton 21-10 in points off turnovers.

Meyers had 16 points to lead Barton Alissa Heskamp came off the bench to add 10.

The Blue Dragons didn't score for the first 5 minutes, 28 seconds of the game, but only trailed 4-0. Browning broke the streak with a 3-pointer and then Armstead gave the Dragons a 6-4 lead with 3:51 to play. The Dragons went scoreless for the remainder of the period and trailed 9-6.

A Mya Williams 3-pointer and Howard layup pulled the Blue Dragons back within 13-11 with 5:57 to play in the second quarter. Barton then reeled off eight points in a row, including two Heskamp 3-pointers, to build a 21-11 lead with 4:03 to play. The Dragons didn't score a field goal for the final 3:13 and trailed 27-17 at halftime.

After Myers scored to give Barton a 29-17 lead with 8:33 to play in the third quarter. The comeback started with a Williams' three-point play. A Duffy jumper pulled the Dragons with 34-29 with 3:52 to play in the period. Again, the Dragons went without a field goal from that point, but Armstead made two free throws and both Duffy and Natalie Payne went 1 of 2 from the line each to pull within 36-33 with 56 seconds to play. The Dragons trailed 38-33 after three quarters.

Duffy started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and Howard tied the game with a short shot in the paint to knot the score at 38-38 with 8:11 to play. There were three ties and five lead changes in the fourth quarter. Tied at 46, the Dragons took a one-point lead after Howard made 1 of 2 free throws with 2:08 to play, and then Howard knocked down a huge 3-pointer with 1:42 to play that gave the Dragons a 50-46 lead. Then leading 50-48, the Dragons got inside points from Duffy and Browning to lead 55-49 with 25 seconds to play. Browning made it a three-possession game with two free throws with 17 seconds to go.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons outscored Barton 39-22 after falling behind by 12 points in the third quarter. … This was the 100th all-time meeting between Hutchinson and Barton. The Dragons trail 58-42 in the series, but have won three games in a row. … The Dragons had a season-low 18 field goals. … The Blue Dragons are now 47-25 against nationally ranked competition in the John Ontjes era.