There’s nothing quite like good shooting to overcome the disadvantage of having to play on the road as Kansas City Kansas Community proved Monday night in an impressive sweep at Hesston.
Netting 31 of 49 shots for 63.3 percent, the Blue Devil men gave Jon Oler his 200th coaching win in his 14th season at the KCKCC helm 82-71 while 52.9 percent first half shooting got the Lady Blue Devils off and running on the sway to a 67-49 victory.
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The Blue Devils’ front line duo of 6-7 Dominique Washington and 6-10 Evrard Atcho missed only three shots and combined for 40 points and 16 rebounds to lead the way in the nightcap.
Washington was 10 of 12 with 21 points and six rebounds while Atcho had his finest performance with his first double double. Netting 8-of-9 shots for 19 points, he also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots.
“Atcho was huge,” said Oler. “We brought him off the bench because he’s been prone to get in foul trouble and he dominated the game with four blocks and good defense against Hesston’s best two players.”
Antonio Winn added 13 points including a pair of critical 3-pointers to hold off Hesston in the first half; Lamonte Burgette’s nine points included two threes that helped KCKCC overcome an early deficit; and D.J. Booker handed out a game high seven assists to go along with nine points.
Despite shooting 57.7 percent the first half, the Blue Devils were deadlocked 37-37 before hitting a torrid 16 of 23 for 69.6 percent in pulling away in the second half.
The KCKCC women put the opener away early by hitting 18 of 34 shots for 52.9 percent to open a 39-24 lead and never looked back.
“We scored well and took care of business, which was nice to see,” said KCKCC Coach Valerie Stambersky. Samantha Hurst with10 points and Paris Johnson with 8 led the early assault.
Hurst and Johnson each finished with 12 points and Nage Umutlu added 11 in a well-balanced attach that saw 11 of 12 Lady Blue Devils score and all 12 capture at least two rebounds.
Alexandria Blaurock led rebounding with 11 and Johnson added 8 as the Blue Devils dominated the boards 49-27.
