Allen Community College’s women rode some early hot shooting Saturday to take the upper hand against visiting Fort Scott.
But the Red Devils’ shooting touch when cold at about the same time Fort Scott took control inside.
Fort Scott scored 13 straight points to take the lead for good.
Allen sliced the Greyhouse lead to four points on several occasions down the stretch, but could draw no closer in a 56-47 defeat.
Allen’s second straight defeat to open the 2021 season nevertheless left head coach Rachel Janzen encouraged that her freshman-laden squad is showing improvement already.
One of those freshmen, a familiar face to local sports fans in Madisyn Holloway, gave Allen the early boost., She connected three times from 3-point range over the game’s first 11 minutes to give ACC a 17-12 lead.
“Madisyn started off strong,” Janzen said. “But we couldn’t get anything after that. It wasn’t’ just one girl. It was all of the girls. We were trying.”
Hallie Reed’s 3-pointer with 5 minutes left put Allen up 22-19.
But the Red Devils went scoreless from there until Adji Mbaye hit a free throw in the waning seconds of the half. In between, Fort Scott took advantage of several offensive rebounds and second-chance points to push across 13 straight points to take a 32-22 lead.
The Red Devils stayed within shouting distance from there, never again letting Fort Scott reach a double-digit lead.
Holloway rebounded Mbaye’s missed free throw with 4 minutes left in the game. She then found Reed for a try to slice the Greyhound lead to 47-43.
The lead yo-yoed between four and seven before Allen’s last charge in the last 90 seconds.
KJ Moore’s driving layup attempt bounced off the rim and out of bounds with 1:45 left on a shot that would have sliced the deficit to two.
Fort Scott missed a pair of subsequent free throws, but Reed’s 3-point attempt on Allen’s next trip down the floor was off the mark.
Allen was unable to score again, as Fort Scott went 5 of 10 from the line to clinch the victory..
“We can’t get in that 5-6 minute drought,” Janzen said. “You’ll never get back over that hump.
You can fight and fight, but I don’t want to dig a hole every game.”
Reed led the Red Devils with 12 points, followed by Holloway with nine. Mbaye had seven points and 12 rebounds. She and Melody Wilfong both had two steals. Moore dished out three assists.
Brooklyn Zoeller and Destiny Ellis each scored 13 for Fort Scott.
Allen shot a cool 27% from the field and was out-rebounded 51 to 41.
The Red Devils open Jayhawk Conference play Wednesday at home against powerful Seward County.
“These are still freshmen,” Janzen said. “We’ve gotta get ready and have short memories.”
Fort Scott (12-20-8-16—56) (FG/3pt): Myers 1-0-0-2, Walker 6-0-1-12, Zoeller 1/1-8-2-13, Covington 3/1-3-1-12, Ellis 5-3-3-13, Johnson 0-0-3-0, Tshirhart 2-0-4-4. TOTALS: 18/2-14-14-56.
Allen (14-9-8-16—47) (FG/3pt): Reed 0/4-0-2-12, Moore 2-1-4-5, Towe 0/1-0-2-3, Mbaye 1-5-2-7, Holloway 0/3-0-0-9, Biltoft 3-0-3-6, Wilfong 2-1-5-5. TOTALS: 8/8-7-18-47.
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