Butler Release | All-Tournament Team

GREAT BEND, Kan. – For the third time under head coach Mike Helmer and the first time since 2020, the Butler Community College women’s basketball team won the NJCAA Region 6 Women’s Basketball Tournament title to punch their ticket to the 2026 NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball National Tournament with 57-47 victory over number three seed Hutchinson Community College inside Fleske Fieldhouse in Great Bend, Kansas.

Winning two games over the weekend to secure the Region 6 crown, the Grizzlies extended their winning streak to 23 straight games while improving to 32-1 overall. The 32-1 record ties the best start in program history, matching the 2013-14 squad that was NJCAA Region 6 Tournament runners-up and National Tournament qualifier which fell to Chipola College in the quarterfinal round.

For the second-straight season, Friday’s semifinal round saw all four of the top seeds advancing to Fleske Fieldhouse on the campus of Barton Community College, where Butler opened play with a come-from-behind 65-62 win over fourth-seeded Coffeyville. Having last played the Red Ravens back on January 21st and coming away with a 67-64 home win to give Coach Helmer his 400th career coaching victory, the postseason matchup between the Grizzlies and Coffeyville looked very similar as Butler fell behind early to trail 7-2 less than three minutes into the game. After battling back to get within a point at 11-10, the Grizzlies saw Coffeyville take control once again early in the second quarter by using a 9-3 run to go up 24-14 midway through the quarter and eventually go up seven at 29-22. Just one point was scored over the final 3:12 of the first half, allowing the Red Ravens to take a 29-23 lead into halftime after seeing Butler shoot just 24.3 percent (nine-of-32) from the field.

 A made three by the Red Ravens to begin the second half gave Coffeyville their largest lead of the game at 32-23, with the Grizzlies looking for any kind of spark they could find to get back into the game. Scoring seven of the next 10 points to get back within five, Butler continued to chip away at the lead throughout the rest of the third quarter to get back within four at 44-40 before allowing a made layup in the final seconds to Coffeyville to trail 46-40 heading into the fourth. Another 9-3 spurt for Butler brought the Grizzlies back even at 49-49 with 6:30 left in the contest to set up a battle down the stretch for the right to advance to the championship game the next day. Trading points back and forth to create two more ties, the Grizzlies came out of the final media timeout of the game by using a Mya Mayberry three and Elina Syniakova jumper to go up five at 58-53 to put the pressure back on Coffeyville. The Red Ravens responded by getting back within two at 58-56 and eventually one at 63-62 in the final minute but could not come up with a game-tying bucket in the final seconds to allow Butler to survive.

After watching number three seed Hutchinson knock off two seed Dodge City in the evening semifinal round matchup, the Grizzlies again were set to face off with an opponent that they had not seen since late January when BCC took down the Blue Dragons 56-52 in Hutchinson to hand the Blue Dragons their last loss followed by a 12-game winning streak. For the second-straight day, a defensive battle took place as neither team looked to push the pace and was content with playing a low-scoring contest that limited mistakes. After scoring five points each to open the first two minutes of play, Hutchinson took a 7-5 lead on a KaMyra Barber bucket before seeing both teams go on a four-plus minute scoring drought that was eventually broke by a Delora Pricop layup to put HCC up 9-5.

Scoring six of the next eight points to retake the lead at 12-11, both Butler and Hutchinson traded free throws to end the quarter and tie things back up at 13-13 heading into the second where the Grizzly defense took over and did not allow Hutchinson to score for the first 8:19 of the quarter while going on a 20-0 run to take a 33-13 lead. The scoring drought for the Blue Dragons led to a 21-point halftime deficit and eventually a deficit of 40-16 with 8:40 left in the third quarter as Butler was able to play methodically throughout the second half to earn a 10-point win and give coach Helmer a win in his final NJCAA Region 6 Tournament.

Averaging 23.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game across the weekend, Grizzly Keegan Yarick was named Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring a game-high 20 points in the championship game and grabbing seven rebounds following a 26-point outing a day earlier against Coffeyville. For the Tournament, Yarick averaged 20.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game and was joined by teammate Ashley Singhateh on the All-Tournament team. Other players to be named to the All-Tournament team included Coffeyville’s Aubrey Hishaw and Esme Smith, Hutchinson’s KaMyra Barber, and Dodge City’s Savi Mi.

After entering the postseason as the number two team in the final NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball top 25 poll, Butler is expected to receive a first-round bye in the 2026 NJCAA Division 1 Women’s Basketball National Tournament Field when it is released at 4 PM (CDT) on Monday, March 16th live on the NJCAA Network (www.njcaa.org/network). The official 24-team tournament field will descend upon Lake Charles, Louisiana and Townsley Law Arena on the campus of McNeese State University for the tournament March 24-31.