T-Birds scorch fourth-ranked Blue Dragons, 90-75

With the fourth-ranked Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons hot on their tails, the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds never wavered.
Trailing Cloud County by as many 16 points early in the second half, the Blue Dragons pulled within two points, 65-63, when Jayden Garrison knocked down a three-point shot with 8:28 remaining in the game.
Unfazed by the Hutchinson run, the T-Birds pumped in 13 straight points to regain control of the game, 78-63.
Cloud County would not allow the Blue Dragons to get closer than 13 points over the final 4:30 on its way to a 90-75 Jayhawk Conference victory Saturday afternoon in Bryant Gymnasium.
“I think they just trusted the process,” Cloud County coach Devin Kastrup said of the T-Birds responding to the second half run by Hutchinson. “We just kind of settled in and got our second wind in that second half and just made our run.”
After opening the season with consecutive losses, the T-Birds have posted five straight wins to move to 5-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Hutchinson had won its first seven games of the season before falling to Cloud County, and is now 1-1 in the conference.
“I think it gives them some confidence to just know that they can compete at this level,” Kastrup said of the win. “We have been winning some games and now we did it against a very, very high-quality opponent. A national tournament quality team. And if we want to be like that now, we have got to beat those guys. So I thought it gave our guys belief they could beat that team. Now the next step for us is can we be consistent.”
Hutchinson went into the game averaging nearly 118 points per game, and had not scored less than 99 points in any one game.
Cloud County, a team allowing under 67 points per contest, held the Blue Dragons nearly 43 points under their season average.
“As crazy as it sounds, it comes down to we just had less possessions in the game then they are used to, one. Two, when they missed shots they really rely on offensive rebounds. They came in averaging 30, and we did a really good job on the boards and were able to get some loose balls to limit their second chance opportunities,” Kastrup said. “To our guys’ credit, we played the game at our rhythm. Hutch got quality looks. I think they got the looks they usually get, but they missed some shots. And I think some of that was due to the tempo that we decided to play at.”
Cloud County scored the first seven points of the game.
Hutchinson battled back to take a 17-15 lead when Dadrevius Weathers hit a three-point shot with 13:02 remaining in the first half.
It would be the Blue Dragons’ only lead in the game.
Two free throws by Corey Sawyer started a 17-2 run that gave Cloud County a 32-19 advantage.
Malang Athian capped off the spurt with a three-point shot.
Athian, a 6-7 sophomore, hit 13 of 15 field goal attempts on his way to scoring a game-high 27 points. Getting quality looks throughout the game, he did not miss on a two-point attempt.
The T-Birds picked apart the Hutchinson defense in the half-court and shot a blistering 65 percent (34 of 52) from the field. They scored 62 points in the paint.
“We felt like we could potentially create really good looks in half-court if we didn’t allow them to speed us up,” Kastrup said. “Our thought process was, if we didn’t have something really sweet, well then let's run our half-court stuff because I think we are a pretty good half-court offensive team.”
Cloud County pushed its lead to 18 points, 45-27, in the first half.
The T-Birds were up 46-32 at halftime.
A basket by Sawyer 29 seconds into the second half gave Cloud County a 48-32 cushion.
Sawyer scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the game.
Hutchinson outscored the T-Birds 17-8 over the next seven minutes to get within seven points, 56-49.
A free throw by Sawyer, a follow by Andre Gray II and a basket by Joe Kearney put Cloud County up 64-59.
The Blue Dragons scored nine points in 1:04 to make it a 61-58 game.
After the two teams traded baskets, Justin Graham scored for Cloud County to make it 65-60.
Garrison then connected on a three to trim the Blue Dragons’ deficit to just two points, 65-63.
In a span of 1:18 seconds, the T-Birds got a basket by Gray II and five free throws by Sawyer to go up 72-63.
A basket by Graham, a jumper by Gray II and a bucket by Sawyer pushed Cloud County’s lead to 78-63 with 4:43 to play.
Hutchinson was unable to mount a charge after that run by the T-Birds.
Cheikh Sow, who was 11 of 14 from the free throw line, matched Sawyer with 17 points for Cloud County. He also had nine rebounds.
Kearney finished with nine points, six assists and five steals.
Antonio Greene led Hutchinson with 19 points. Aaron Franklin scored 17 and Kernan Bundy added 14.
Cloud County is on the road for the first time in conference play with a game at Independence on Tuesday night.
The Pirates are 3-5 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
“A really talented team, multiple D-1 guys. They haven’t lost at home yet, so it will be a good challenge for us,” Kastrup said.