Tigers survive Hutchinson 61-60, advance in District Playoffs
Fighting back from a 50-43 second-half deficit, the No. 6-seed Cowley College men’s basketball team got the go-ahead basket from freshman Marcus Smith with 22 seconds remaining and then got a huge block from Khai Brown to help the Tigers defeat 11th-seed Hutchinson Community College 61-60 in the First Round of the District Plains Tournament held Saturday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.
Cowley (19-12) advances to play at third seed Dodge City (20-12) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, Cowley shot only 35 percent while trailing 28-24 at the end of the first half. However, freshman Xavier Vickerstaff went off for 17 of his career-high 20 points in the second half to help rally the Tigers for the victory.
Vickerstaff finished 6-of-9 from three-point range, while Smith added 14 points and seven assists as the Tigers shot 53 percent in the final 20 minutes of play.
"Once we settled in, we finally started playing Cowley basketball," Cowley head coach Donnie Jackson said. "We have been waiting for a breakout game from Xavier and hope he can carry that over to the next game. Marcus (Smith) did a good job of finding the shooters in the second half, and Khai Brown stepped up and made what was probably the play of the game."
There were only two lead changes in the game as Hutchinson finishes its season with a record of 14-17. Daleron Thomas led the Blue Dragons with 19 points in the loss.
Cowley finishes its home slate with a record of 14-5.
"We appreciate Tiger Nation and their support, and now we have to find a way to win a tough road game, but I am glad we are still playing meaningful basketball," Jackson said.
Cowley and Dodge City split a pair of games in the regular season.
"Dodge City's guard play is exceptional, and they will be a handful coming off the bye," Jackson said.
The box score can be found at https://cowleytigers.com/sports/mbkb/2025-26/boxscores/20260307_3egb.xml.