Hutchinson men, women win Region VI titles
When Payton Purvier went to the bench with three fouls early in the second half on Saturday night, Dodge City may have been wise to replace him with Purvier’s cardboard cutout.
The mere presence of the 7-foot-1 sophomore center flustered Hutchinson in the first half. The Blue Dragons hesitated to approach him on the dribble, fumbled passes when they got near him, and failed to limit his easy offense.
But while Purvier was benched, Hutchinson rediscovered its motor skills and its confidence, controlling the paint throughout the second half in a 76-70 win in the Region VI men’s championship game at Koch Arena.
Hutchinson (28-6) earned a spot in the NJCAA national tournament, which it will host beginning March 16.
“The first half, we didn’t go hard enough at (Purvier),” Hutchinson coach Steve Eck said. “We just said we were going to go at him a little harder and get him in foul trouble. That was the key. He’s hard to score against down there when he’s under the basket, and we made it so there was no question there was a foul there.”
Purvier scored 17 points and had seven rebounds in the first half. He anchored the interior on defense by standing mostly stationary under the basket, moving to challenge shots, which he did simply by extending his arms.
Hutchinson players such as 6-foot-7 DeShawn Freeman and 6-foot-8 Keanu Pinder had little hope of shooting over him, and with Purvier planted in the paint they couldn’t dribble around him, either.
Purvier was similarly commanding on offense. Hutchinson attempted to front him, but Dodge City’s guards lobbed the ball over them and fed Purvier for easy baskets. He missed two of nine shots in the first half and had four blocked shots with one foul.
“He’s a big body in the middle and he’s mastered the art of blocking shots and being big without fouling,” Hutchinson sophomore forward Austin Winter said. “Tonight, they weren’t calling them because he wasn’t fouling (in the first half). He was playing good defense like he does.”
Purvier, who took a recruiting visit to Wichita State before committing to Old Dominion in the fall, was in foul trouble before a minute went by in the second half. Freeman challenged him twice in succession and drew the foul each time, sending Purvier to the bench with three fouls.
The difference was immediate and obvious. Zach Winter drove to the basket untouched for a layup as Hutchinson began the half on a 13-2 run to go ahead 46-41.
The greatest beneficiary during Purvier’s absence was Pinder, who played the way his counterpart did before halftime. Pinder owned the interior on both ends, taking over stretches before finishing with 10 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and four blocks.
“It just opened up the key,” Pinder said. “We were able to get to the basket easy – easy points. Obviously we were able to protect the rim. I was feeling like it was my time to take over because every other game I’ve been in foul trouble. This was the first game I’ve had with one foul the whole season.”
Purvier didn’t score in the second half. He had a longer absence after his fourth foul, when Hutchinson took its biggest lead. Dodge City eventually adjusted and meshed with a smaller lineup, cutting the lead to one point.
When Purvier returned, the Conquistadors were unbalanced and Hutchinson began to pull away again. A Bashir Ahmed three-pointer made it 68-61 with 2:08 to go and the Blue Dragons protected the lead at the free-throw line.
DODGE CITY: Brock 2-99 2-2 7, Newton 2-6 0-0 4, O’Neill 0-0 0-1 0, Watts 7-13 0-0 15, Pervier 7-9 3-3 17, Jackson 9-19 2-2 21, Eaves 3-9 0-0 6, Haist 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-65 7-8 70.
HUTCHINSON: Winter 2-5 4-4 9, Ahmed 7-14 0-1 17, Budke 5-6 0-0 11, Pinder 4-7 2-3 10, Freeman 6-14 5-9 17, Bob 1-2 0-0 2, Hoffman 3-9 1-3 8, Robertson 0-0 0-0 0, Aly 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-58 12-20 76.
Halftime—Dodge City 39, Hutchinson 33. Three-point shooting—Dodge City 3-21 (Watts 1-3, Jackson 1-6, Brock 1-7, Eaves 0-1, Newton 0-4); Hutchinson 6-11 (Ahmed 3-4, Winter 1-2, Budke 1-2, Hoffman 1-2, Bob 0-1). Rebounds—Dodge City 27 (Pervier 10); Hutchinson 42 (Pinder 11). Total fouls—Dodge City 18, Hutchinson 13. Assists—Dodge City 12 (Newton 4); Hutchinson 17 (Freeman 5).
Hutchinson women 66, Coffeyville 58 – The undefeated and top-ranked Blue Dragons (32-0) won their third single-digit game of the season, finally pulling away in the final minute to clinch an NJCAA national tournament bid.
Coffeyville also advances to the national tournament via an automatic section bid, which goes to runners-up from selected regions.
All that stood between the Red Ravens tying the game on a fast-break layup by Devin Cosper with about 90 seconds to play was the presence of Alyx Bloom.
If Cosper had gotten around Bloom, she would have had a free path to the basket. But Bloom didn’t budge as Cosper approached her just outside the paint, reaching her hand out and knocking the ball away for a game-changing steal.
“Honestly, I didn’t know what was going through my head,” Bloom said. “I knew she wanted to go right. She gave a little hesitation, and I just took my chance.”
Coffeyville, which lost by 12 points to Hutchinson in November —Hutchinson’s closest home game this season — led at halftime and still was within a basket until the Blue Dragons scored with a minute to go to permanently push the lead to two possessions.
The Red Ravens are the only team to shoot 40 percent against Hutchinson, and they did it twice, but Bloom’s steal and key baskets down the stretch allowed the Blue Dragons to survive on Saturday.
Kalani Purcell scored 23 points and had 13 rebounds, playing all 40 minutes. She became the school’s career scoring leader and top single-season rebounder. Cynthia Petke had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Mandy Madden had 10 points and seven assists.
“There were some big plays coming down the stretch,” Hutchinson coach John Ontjes said. “… Alyx had a great steal when Kosper is at her best, in full-court. Then it came down to making free throws at the end.”
COFFEYVILLE: Cosper 6-12 6-6 20, Khammarath 3-8 4-6 11, Kiploks 4-9 0-0 8, Curtis 1-10 1-2 3, Carrannza 2-3 6-8 10, Smith 3-4 0-0 6, Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Baldwin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-48 17-22 58.
HUTCHINSON: Harding 3-9 1-1 8, Petke 8-15 0-0 16, Bloom 2-6 5-6 10, Purcell 10-15 3-5 23, LeFebvre 2-6 1-4 7, Madden 1-2 0-0 2, McNair 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 10-16 66.
Halftime—Coffeyville 27, Hutchinson 25. Three-point shooting—Coffeyville 3-10 (Cosper 2-3, Khammarath 1-4, Kiploks 0-1, Curtis 0-1, Brown 0-1); Hutchinson 4-16 (LeFebvre 2-5, Bloom 1-3, Harding 1-6, Jones 0-2). Rebounds—Coffeyville 23 (Cosper 7); Hutchinson 38 (Purcell 13). Total fouls—Coffeyville 15, Hutchinson 18. Assists—Coffeyville 11 (Curtis 5); Hutchinson 22 (Bloom 7).
This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Hutchinson men, women win Region VI titles."