Wednesday night’s battle between Allen Community College and Johnson County Community College men will decide who takes the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division II championship title.
It’s a big matchup in a conference that has been a three-headed monster race between Allen, Johnson and Kansas City Kansas Community College.
“These guys really want it,” said Allen head coach Andy Shaw. “Winning the conference title, a repeat of last year, has been a goal. We knew it was going to be tough and now we have an opportunity. That’s what you want, something to play for.”
The Red Devils dropped their first matchup against KCKCC on Feb. 1, 66-63.
Three days later, the Red Devils came out on top, 64-54, on Feb. 4 in Overland Park.
Allen then went to KCKCC this past Saturday and lost, 72-65.
Allen has already clinched a home playoff game Monday, March 6, but has bigger goals.
“We’ve had a lot of battles with Johnson and they’ll be coming for us, they want to be the ones to knock us off,” Shaw said. “I expect a battle and I expect two good teams to be going at it. We’ll see who steps up and makes enough plays to come away with the win.”
Two of the three conference losses this season have come at the hands of KCKCC.
Allen prides itself on its defense, allowing only 62 points per game this season. The Red Devils have also outrebounded opponents by 5.7 boards per game, led by Brayden Thompson’s 6.8 rebounds per game.
Chris Dixon and Ahmed Mahgoub have been Allen’s go-to scorers. Each are averaging 14.6 and 13.1 points per game this season, respectively. Dixon is more of the outside scorer while Mahgoub has been more physical in the paint.
Nick Whittick has been Allen’s sacred ball-handler. From West Palm Beach, Florida, Whittick is a dominant point guard, leading the team with 4.9 assists per game and averaging 6.4 points.
The game just seems smooth when Whittick has the ball in his hands.
It helps that the Red Devils returned nearly an identical roster from their conference-winning and national tournament team last season. The team boasts 12 players from that squad which made a national tournament run to Danville, Illinois last March.
Lady Red Devils
