HUTCHINSON — A blistering start had the Allen Community College men thinking upset Saturday, as they raced to a 21-9 lead over host Hutchinson Community College to open the Region VI playoffs.
Alas, the Blue Dragons — particularly, standout sophomore Kadeem Allen — had other plans.
Allen’s triple double spearheaded Hutchinson’s comeback as the Blue Dragons hit 16 of their first 18 shots in the second half of a 93-83 victory.
The loss ends the Red Devils’ season with a 16-15 record. Hutchinson (24-7) will take on Butler in the Region VI quarterfinals Thursday at Koch Arena in Wichita.
The loss spoiled Courtney Stockard’s memorable performance, with 38 points and five rebounds. He shot 14 of 23 from the field and 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
Problem was, Cody Sluder was the only other Red Devil in double figures with 13 points.
“We did a good job of keeping Hutchinson out of the paint in the first half,” Shaw said. “But the second half was a different story.”
Behind Allen’s 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Hutchinson scored 58 points in the second half, quickly pulling away after the Red Devils took a 37-35 lead into intermission.
Hutchinson shot a blistering 57 percent for the game and out-rebounded ACC, 41 to 33.
Josh Sweet’s 3-pointer midway through the first half put ACC on top, 21-9, before Hutchinson responded with a 13-2 run to cut the Red Devil lead to 23-22 in a span of two minutes.
The Red Devils rebuilt a six-point lead moments later and nursed a two-point advantage at halftime.
But after shooting just 38 percent from the field in the first half, Hutchinson hit at a 75 percent clip after halftime.
The Blue Dragons scored the first eight points after halftime to take the lead for good. The lead was 72-57 before ACC embarked on an 11-3 run to pull back to within single digits, 77-68, with just over four minutes left on Cody Sluder’s 3-pointer.
Hutchinson slammed the door with an 8-0 run.
Raheem Tyner followed with nine points and 11 rebounds. Tray Fountain had three assists. Sluder wound up with three steals.
Three Blue Dragon players, Allen, Darrick Wood and DeShawn Freeman each had 18 points. Nathan Jackson followed with 15 and Darius Freeman had 11.
(Note: Information was gleaned for this article from the HCC sports information department.)
Allen (37-46—83)
Hutchinson (35-58—93)
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Uno 1-5-3-7, Fountain 1-0-2-2, Sluder 2/3-0-4-13, Stockard 9/5-5-1-38, Sweet 2/1-0-0-7, Keiswetter 2-0-4-4, Watson 0/1-0-0-3, Tyner 3-3-5-9. TOTALS: 20/10-13-19-83.
Hutchinson (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Wood 8-2-4-18, Allen 7-4-1-18, Freeman 2/2-1-1-11, Sands 0-4-3-4, DeBerry 1-4-1-7, Jackson 7-1-0-15, Gunter 1-0-1-2, Freeman 8-2-1-18. TOTALS: 34/2-19-15-93.
Red Devils ousted in Region VI playoffs
