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Broncbuster basketball falls to Hutchinson in Region 6 quarterfinal, 80-72
Published 3/8/2010 in Sports
By MIKE KESSINGER
mkessinger@gctelegram.com
WICHITA — The season came to an end the way it started for the Garden City Community College men's basketball team — inconsistent.
But, if anything, the Broncbusters didn't go out without a fight before losing to Hutchinson, 80-72, in the quarterfinals of the Region 6 tournament Saturday at Koch Arena on the Wichita State University campus.
"That's who we are," GCCC coach Kris Baumann said. "In the first half I didn't think we were very good, we came out flat. I thought we fought our tails off in the second half. We just dug ourselves in such a deep hole, it was just disappointing. We didn't shoot it very well from the free throw line. I just think we kind of summed up who we were. We were either really good or we were really bad. We were never hovering in between, which you need to."
Behind a near-perfect performance (by statistical standards) from Joe Mitchell, the Blue Dragons almost took apart the defending Region 6 champions early. Mitchell, finishing with a season-high by any player on the Hutchinson roster with 32 on 12-of-14 shots, 6-of-6 free throws and 10 rebounds, was alone almost too much for GCCC.
"Joe did a great job of attacking the basket," Hutchinson coach Steve Eck said of Mitchell. "It was something he didn't do the second time we played them (in the regular season)."
When the Jayhawk Conference Western Division foes met for the second time during the regular season on Feb. 6, GCCC dominated in a 67-54 win at Hutch. Mitchell scored 16 points, but made just 4-of-11 from the floor. On Saturday, Mitchell was an overwhelming problem for the Busters.
"Joe Mitchell just owned us," Baumann said. "He just took over the game. We had no answer for him. It's a credit to him and it's a credit to (Hutchinson)."
Garden City (17-15) had their moments against the Blue Dragons, but they were few and far between. Especially with the way the 6-foot-1 Mitchell took control.
Hutchinson constructed a 37-18 lead in the first half on a long pass from James Stewart to Dylan Frantz converting it into a layup. The Busters did work the deficit to 11, but a late Hutchinson basket made it 43-30 at the break.
"We'd get down a lot, then we would fight to get back in it," GCCC sophomore guard Chris McHenry said comparing Saturday's game to the rest of the season. "It was always too late. We don't finish the game well."
Despite three straight fouls by McHenry — who finished with a team-high 22 points — in the first 2:02 of the second half, giving him four for the game, the Busters were able to begin a comeback.
At the 15:52 mark, point guard Bobby Wesley hit a jumper, pulling GCCC to within 43-38. A minute later the Dragons scored their first points of the half on a pair of Mitchell free throws.
The Busters never were any closer from there until a late flurry with under a minute to go pulled them to within 76-72 on a McHenry 3-pointer.
GCCC trailed by 12 with 1:30 to go as McHenry started the rally with a running jumper in the lane, then he hit a three off a steal, and Avery Jirmnson converted a steal into a layup to make it 74-69. After two Mitchell free throws and McHenry's final 3-pointer, the Dragons' Bruce Reed and Leon Flowers each hit two free throws for the final score.
"We definitely underachieved this season," McHenry said. "When we were up, we were up. We definitely showed how good it could have been, but that's not how we played. We underachieved a lot."
Along with McHenry — a transfer this season — Vince Banks, another sophomore transfer, also scored in double figures finishing with 21 points in his final game for GCCC. Reed was the only Dragon to join Mitchell with more than 10 points or more as he finished with 13.
Before the Busters' run to the NJCAA national tournament last season, GCCC had lost out in the Region 6 quarterfinals two straight years to the eventual region champion. Saturday would be Hutchinson's final win, though, as the Dragons (27-6) fell to Coffeyville on Sunday in the semifinals, 64-51. Coffeyville, the No. 1 seed from the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division will play the Western Division's first seed No. 15-ranked Butler (28-5) at 8 p.m. tonight in Koch Arena.
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Hutchinson 80, GCCC 72
HUTCHINSON (27-5) -- Stewart 0-3 1-2 1, Frantz 2-3 4-7 9, Barrett 1-1 0-0 2, Mitchell 12-14 6-6 32, Reed 3-9 6-6 13, Flowers 2-6 5-6 9, Barnes 2-4 0-0 4, Holloman 0-1 3-4 3, Davis 2-3 2-3 7, Wade 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 24-44 27-34 80.
GCCC (17-15) — McHenry 6-16 6-8 22, Morales 0-2 1-2 1, Wesley 2-4 0-0 4, Jirmnson 4-9 2-5 10, Griffin 2-4 2-4 6, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Banks 8-20 2-3 21, Burley 1-5 1-2 3, Jackson 2-6 1-2 5. Totals — 25-66 15-26 72.
Halftime — Hutch, 43-30. 3-point goals — Hutch 5-9 (Mitchell 2-3, Frantz 1-2, Reed 1-2, Davis 1-1, Flowers 0-1); GCCC 7-21 (McHenry 4-8, Banks 3-8, Jirmnson 0-3, Wesley 0-2). Rebounds — Hutch 36 (Mitchell 10); GCCC 35 (Burley 9). Assists — Hutch 13 (Reed 5); GCCC 6 (Wesley 5). Blocks — Hutch 4 (Reed 2); GCCC 4 (Griffin 2). Steals — Hutch 8 (Reed 3); GCCC 18 (Wesley 8, Jirmnson 5). Fouled out — Hutch, Davis; GCCC, Jirmnson, Banks. Team fouls — Hutch 19, GCCC 28. Turnovers — Hutch 24, GCCC 16.
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