Hutch drops Garden City at Sports Arena

By Mike Pilosof

Hutchinson, KS-With the exception of free-throw shooting, Hutchinson may be the most the complete team in the Jayhawk Conference.

Need more proof? Saturday should provide enough supporting evidence.

Makayla Vannett dropped a season-high 27 points and canned six 3's, Brooklyn Betham was unstoppable with 26, and the sixth-ranked Blue Dragons ripped through Garden City 103-61 at the Sports Arena.

"Hutch is a really good team," Interim Head Coach Mike "Scoop" Harding said afterwards. "They're especially good at home."

The Blue Dragons won their 17^th straight game at the Sports Arena, and did so in dominant fashion. They drilled their first five shots from the field, shot 71 percent in the first quarter (12-of-17), and Vannett hit three triples in the first 10 minutes to give Hutchinson a 31-16 advantage. In the second, the Blue Dragons used a 13-0 run, capped by Vannett's fourth 3 of the half, to make it 41-16. They were up 27 at the break.

"It comes down to hitting shots," Harding said. "In pregame warmups, Hutchinson was hitting everything."

Once the game started, that never changed.

Hutchinson stretched their lead to as many as 35 at the end of the third. In the fourth, Betham knocked down a jumper in the paint to make it 97-57.

"I've said it the last couple of weeks, our players have to better when they're not knocking down shots," Harding said. "There are other things that they can do."

The Broncbusters shot just 34 percent (23-of-67) and were 5-of-29 from downtown (17 percent). They were outrebounded for the 16^th time this season, 47-26.

Abby Ogle scored 14 points for Hutchinson, who won their ninth straight game. Lauryn Mapusua added 10, and Gelicia Cooper grabbed 10 boards.

Next up: Garden City vs. NW Tech-Monday, Feb. 10-5:45 p.m. pregame; 6 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app