Alan Hoskins, Supervisor of Public Information
Thursday, February 18, 2010
College Advancement
Their hopes for a home opening round playoff berth dealt a staggering blow by a heartbreaking 75-72 loss at Independence Wednesday night, milestone wins are still within reach of Kansas City Kansas Community College’s basketball teams as they close out regular season play with three straight twin bills at home.
At 19-8, the Blue Devil men are still within reach of becoming the winningest KCKCC in history. A sweep of the final three home games and a first round playoff win would make them the first Blue Devil team in history to win 23 games while the Blue Devil women (15-12) need only one more win for their first winning season since 1997-98.
Arch-rival Johnson County starts the stretch of home games Saturday at 2 and 4 p.m. followed by Cowley County next Wednesday night and Fort Scott a week from Saturday, Feb. 27.
Scott Fruehling, who had five three-point goals, had a game-tying sixth go in and come out at the buzzer as Independence escaped the Blue Devils for a second time. Earlier, the Pirates escaped when a go-ahead KCKCC three-pointer rimmed out with eight seconds to go.
Playing without leading scorer Derick Denny, the Blue Devils still managed to hit 24 of 46 field goals for 52.2 percent only to be done in by 19 turnovers, seven more than Indy. Fruehling led the way with a career high 21 points while Andre Metoyer added 12, Dennis Tinnon 11 and Jonathan Wright 10. Metoyer also had a game high 10 rebounds for KCKCC, which led 33-28 at the half only to be overtaken by Indy’s 48.4 percent second half shooting and a 31-point effort by Anthony Downing.
The loss all but ended KCKCC’s (6-6) hopes of a first division finish, dropping the Blue Devils into sixth place in the Region VI standings behind Coffeyville (10-2), Cowley (9-3), Neosho (8-4), Independence (7-4) and Allen County (6-5).
Independence (19-7) stayed in the thick of the women’s Region VI race by surging to a 34-22 halftime lead en route to an 81-38 triumph in the opener. Thirteen players scored for the Lady Pirates, who shot 52.2 percent and had a 44-31 rebound advantage. Alyssa Rushton had nine points and Laci Schreiber eight for KCKCC. Schreiber also had a game high nine rebounds and Sarah Craft seven for the Blue Devils, who remained fifth in the Region at 4-8.