McGhee nails walk-off three at buzzer to lift Conqs to victory

The "Ragin' Cajun" knew he wasn't going to let his team lose the way they did last week against Colby.
     Conqs freshman R.J. McGhee, from Baton Rouge, La., looked up at the clock with less than five seconds left to go in overtime. The score was knotted up, 71-71, in a back-and-forth slobberknocker Saturday between the Conqs and the visiting Pratt Beavers.
     The Conqs had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, as guard Tramel White found himself with a wide-open lane to the basket as the clock ticked down with under four seconds to play. White was undercut by a Pratt defender near the hoop, causing him to alter his shot plane going up for the layup.
     The shot would bounce off the background and roll off the front of the rim, sending the two teams into overtime.
     This is where McGhee had his moment.
     The Beavers had just been called for a traveling violation at the other end of the floor, giving the ball back to Dodge with less than 20 seconds to play as head coach Brady Trenkle drew up a play in the Conqs' huddle.
     "They started off man to man, that's what the play was designed for, and then they switched to zone," McGhee said. "So when I got the ball, the last game we had, we could've won with a buzzer-beater, so I wasn't losing it this time. So I just shot it up and it left my hand right — all net."
     The ball was inbounded to White, who ran the offense from the top of the key with the seconds rolling away. Eventually, the ball ended up in the hands of McGhee, who was stationed about 26 feet from the basket as the clock hit five seconds left.
     That's when the Eastern Illinois-bound freshman stepped up and hit the biggest shot of his collegiate career thus far. He rose up and above a Beaver defender, rattling in a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded and prompting a melee at midcourt with Conq players dogpiling on top of McGhee.
     "All I could do was laugh because after that, my whole team was on me," McGhee said. "This win brings our confidence level back up, because after losing our last game, this win helps us bring that confidence back."

Slow start
     The game started off slow for the Conqs, who couldn't quite get it going offensively early on against Pratt. At one point during the first half, the Beavers held the biggest lead of the game when they led 32-22 deep into half.
     However, Dodge was able to battle back and cut that deficit in half as the Conqs walked into the locker room down 35-30. But they were visibly frustrated coming out for second-half warmups.
     The next 20 minutes of basketball could only be described as a free-for-all as both sides took their best shots, throwing uppercuts and attempting to knock the other team out once and for all.
     Neither team could jump out to a comfortable lead, so it was always within striking distance of the other team.
     The Conqs used huge buckets from McGhee, White and fellow guard Clarence Willard, who did a lot of his damage from behind the three-point line, nailing four of his seven attempts.
     There were 12 lead changes and five ties throughout the game, proving how close it was for all 40 minutes, plus five minutes of overtime.
     After the game ended up tied at the end of regulation, both teams exploded offensively in the extra period. The Conqs scored 13 points in the extra five-minute frame, while the Beavers pounded out 10.
     It was that three from McGhee that was the only difference.
     As a unit, the Conqs ended up shooting 49 percent from the field and were 9-of-20 from behind the arc. But they were costly from the free throw line, going 11-for-21.
     McGhee had a huge night for the Conqs, finishing with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Willard had 17 points and five boards. White was the only other Conq in double figures, winding up with 10 while leading the team in assists with six.
     The win pushes the men to 3-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and 15-3 overall.

Loss to Pratt
     As for the women, they found the going tough again as they looked for their first conference win against the Lady Beavers.
    Despite going into the half only down by four, the Lady Conqs were unable to chip away at the lead, eventually falling to Pratt 53-39.
     For head coach Lucas McDonald, his team showed great effort, but it just wasn't there offensively.
     "I think this game was by far our best defensive effort in the last month and a half as the girls played their tails off defensively, executing our game plan," he said. "We did a decent job rebounding tonight, which allowed us to be in the game. But on the offensive end of the floor, I bet if we go back and watch film, we had 15 or 16 misses from around the rim. You have to make those shots if you want to win games."
     The first half was a closely contested battle between the two KJCCC schools, with the lead never growing to more than a few points before they ended up with a halftime score of 22-18.
     Things were more of the same as the second half began, as both sides swung back and forth, refusing to let the game get out of hand. Eventually, the Beavers were able to extend the lead to about 14 midway through the second half before the Conqs began to climb back into it slowly.
     Despite their best efforts, the girls just couldn't make enough shots, as the Beavers iced some free throws down the stretch to give them their ultimate margin of victory.
     The Conqs were led by Kalyn Williams with 14 points, while Jazmin Villa had seven points, four rebounds and five assists.
     They will now prepare for a road trip to Cloud County on Wednesday, as they continue to look for that all-around team effort that seems to be evading them so far.
     "We have to figure out how to put it together on both ends of the floor for 40 minutes in one particular night, and when it happens, we're going to play well and someone is going to be in trouble," McDonald said. "We'll get back to our basics.
"If you look from Hutch to now, I'd say we have improved, and we need to continue to do that. Cloud is a very solid team, and we're going to have to play well to have a chance."
     Game times for the Cloud County matchups are scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday for the women and 8 p.m. for the men. They will return for their next home game Jan. 21 against Seward County at the Civic Center.