EMMIE BOESE
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The HutchCC Blue Dragons ended their season in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship. Hutch lost to Connors State 91-69 on Wednesday night.
"Coach Muse (head coach of Connors State) does a hell of a job and that's a lot of wins on that sideline with him and they deserve the win," Head Coach Tommy DeSalme said. "And I was proud of our guys for fighting. They never gave up and their heads didn't go down. That's kind of been an issue with our games this year where we lost it but we kept fighting all the way to the end."
Hutch trailed Connors State 41-35 at the half. Connors State picked up the intensity though after halftime and pushed Hutch out to the 3-point line.
"They were just being real physical with us," sophomore guard Kamryn Thomas said. "Keeping us out of the paint, closing out real strong. It wasn't nothing we've not seen before. Shots just wasn't falling tonight."
Hutch shot 15.4% (4-26) from the field, a tournament low. Connors State scored 52 points in the paint and shot 51.6% (32-62) from the field. They only took three shots from the 3-point line.
"That kind of style of play, if you can't speed them up, it's a hard deal," DeSalme said.
Sophomore forward Bradyn Hubbard who typically averages 25 points per game for Connors State put up 29 against Hutch.
"He's a grown man that knows his game and knows where his spots are and we did a pretty good job at getting him off his spots but him and that other post player(freshman forward Buddy Hammer Jr.), they know who they are and they did a good job," DeSalme said.
The Blue Dragons will loose seven sophomores off their roster for the 2024-25 season. Thomas and sophomore forward Valentino Simon were named to the All-KJCCC Division I First Team earlier this season. Thomas scored 12 points against Connors State and recorded 3 blocks.
"We overcame a lot behind closed doors and stuff like that so I wouldn't want any other team to do it with man," Thomas said.
Sophomore guard J.P. Ricks was an All-KJCCC Division I Honorable Mention selection. Against Connors State, Ricks scored 22 points, recorded four assists and had zero turnovers.
"We had a great crowd three days straight," Ricks said. "We just came up short but I mean it's part of basketball. We had a good group of guys and we went to work every day in practice and games and we just came up short."
Hutchinson finished the season with an overall 29-7 record. Connors State will play Triton in the semifinals on Thursday, March 28 at 7:15 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, Barton will play Indian Hills at 6 p.m.
Glen Grunwald and Dan Naccarato will have the game play-by-play on Thursday on Country 102.9 FM and KWBW 1450 AM/98.5 FM.