BLUE DRAGONS COMPLETE 18-POINT COMEBACK AT COFFEYVILLE
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
COFFEYVILLE – The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team completed the second-biggest comeback of the John Ontjes era on Wednesday night in a pivotal Jayhawk Conference matchup with the Coffeyville Red Ravens.
Trailing by as many as 18 points in the third quarter, the Blue Dragons rallied to defeat the Red Ravens 68-63 at Nellis Hall to take a two-game lead over Coffeyville for fourth place in the Jayhawk Conference and completed a season-series sweep with the Ravens.
The Blue Dragons improved to 19-6 overall and 13-6 in the KJCCC. Coffeyville is now 15-10 and 11-8 in league play. Hutchinson plays host to league leader Dodge City at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Sports Arena.
Hutchinson's comeback actually came over the final 13 minutes, 34 seconds as Tetona Woods-Blackowl's free throw at that juncture gave Coffeyville a 53-35 lead with 3:26 to play in the third quarter. Coffeyville built that lead with blistering 63 percent shooting in the first half to Hutchinson's 24.2 percent in the first two quarters. The Red Ravens led 38-26 at halftime.
Monae Duffy and Mya Williams keyed the Blue Dragon comeback. Duffy scored 10 of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. Williams sank six of her career-high-tying 12 free throws in the final 10 minutes to lead the Blue Dragons to a 26-7 fourth-quarter.
The Blue Dragons finally took the lead after a wild sequence that started with the teams trading turnovers on three consecutive possessions. The third turnover was a Williams steal that led to a Morgan Browning go-ahead bucket with 1:29 to play that gave the Dragons a 62-61 lead.
Wednesday's comeback was the 13th time an Ontjes-coached team rallied from 10 or more points down to win a game and the 18-point deficit was the second-largest rally of those comebacks. The largest was 21 points on January 27, 2021 at the Sports Arena against Coffeyville in a 70-63 victory.
Duffy just missed a double-double with 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the Blue Dragons. Duffy had a pair of 3-point goals and scored 15 points in the second half.
Williams had a strange stat line in finishing with 15 points and three rebounds. The Blue Dragon sophomore made just one field goal, a 3-pointer in the first quarter, on six attempts, but was 12 of 12 from the free-throw line, which tied a career high. Williams also jumped four spots on the career free throws list and moved into No. 3 with 245 career free throws.
Browning finished with nine points, Kali Howard closed with six points and Ziya Simms added five points.
The Blue Dragons shot just 33.3 percent (20 of 60) for the game, going 5 of 17 from 3-point range and 23 of 29 from the foul line. Hutchinson had a 37-34 rebounding advantage and had just eight turnovers.
Jordynn Conner finished with 20 points to lead Coffeyville, 14 coming in the first half. Cheyenne Banks had 12 points and eight rebounds. Bailey Layman had nine points – three 3-pointers in Coffeyville's second-quarter surge to a 12-point halftime lead.
The Ravens finished shooting 48.0 percent (24 of 50), hitting 6 of 18 from 3-point range and 9 of 16 from the foul line. Coffeyville had 16 turnovers.
The Red Ravens jumped out fast to a 9-2 lead at the first media timeout. The Blue Dragons scored just four points over the first 6 minutes. That cold spell was snapped by a Simms jumper with 3:40 left that cut the Raven lead to 9-6. Makenzie Davis hit a jumper to bump the Ravens to a seven-point lead. Then Williams hit her only field goal of the game, a 3-pointer, to pull the Dragons within 13-9 with 1:09 to play in the quarter. Coffeyville led 17-12 at the end of the quarter.
The Blue Dragons started the second quarter on a 9-2 run and took a 21-19 lead on a Duffy 3-pointer with 7:45 to play in the quarters. Layman then blitzed the Blue Dragons with back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 13-0 run over the next 2:59 that gave Coffeyville a 32-21 after a Layman trey with 4:47 to go . The Dragons went scoreless for 4:20. Again that skid was snapped by a Simms' bucket with 3:25 to play. Coffeyville led 38-26 at halftime.
Hutchinson's struggled to get any offense going early in the third quarter. Conner scored at the 6:14 mark to give Coffeyville a 46-33 lead. The deficit was extended to 15 on a Davis bucket with 4:32 remaining. The Ravens built their largest lead of 18 at 53-35 with 3:02 to play in the third on a Woods-Blackowl free throw. The Dragons started to chip away at the lead from the foul line. When Duffy hit a bucket with 57 seconds left in the quarter, the Dragons had pulled within 53-41. Coffeyville led 56-42 after three quarters.
Kyleigh Ortiz drilled a long 3-point basket with 8:44 to play in the fourth quarter to give Coffeyville a 59-46 lead. From that point, Hutchinson outscored Coffeyville 24-4. Duffy's inside basket with 8:06 to play started the comeback. Journey Armstead's drive to the hoop cut the Raven lead to 59-54 with 6:02 to play. Williams sank two free throws with 4:06 to go to make it a one-possession game at 61-58. Browning gave the Dragons the lead at 62-61 with 1:29 to play. The Blue Dragons were 10 of 12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to complete a 26-7 fourth quarter and the comeback.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 18-13 all-time against Coffeyville, 5-5 in games at Coffeyville. … Mya Williams now has 1,093 career points; six points shy of second place on the career list. … The 26 points in the fourth quarter was the largest fourth quarter of the season. … Coffeyville shot just 30.4 percent in the second half. … The Blue Dragons are now 5-5 on the road, 3-5 when trailing at halftime and 3-5 when trailing after three quarters. … The 12-point halftime deficit was the largest comeback of the season. … Natalie Payne hit her fifth 3-point goal of the season. … Duffy posted her third career 20-point game. … The Dragons are 5-6 this season when being out-shot by an opponent. … The Blue Dragons did not commit a single foul in the first half.