ENID, Okla. — Allen Community College put the finishing touches on an unbeaten non-conference schedule in fine fashion Friday.
The Red Devils pulled away after halftime to thump host Northern Oklahoma College-Enid 73-47 to push Allen’s record to 11-0 into the Christmas break.
Leading the charge was Aaliyah Brown, who was a monster inside, with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Not far behind was Tawhiirakura Doyle, who scored 11 points, while Nikki Gear added 10 points and eight boards. Mafalda Chambel added nine points, Aiyanna Mason scored eight and Marta Cutazo had seven. Juana Rojas dished out five assists.
It was a fitting capper to the pre-Christmas slate, in which Allen’s lineup contributed in ways big and small, head coach Leslie Crane said.
The freshman-dominated lineup — Chambel is the lone holdover from last season’s 22-win squad — has found success by buying into the team concept, she noted.
“That’s one of the things you just never know with this many freshmen, if they’re going to embrace what we’re doing and make the team even more successful,” Crane said.
Sometimes, such as this case, that’s a positive.
“The good thing about freshmen is they don’t have any preconceived ideas,” she said. “They just go play. These kids are hungry, and they want to get better, and they all want to win.”
Even better has been watching the girls bond off the court.
“We’ve met up with quite a bit of adversity this first semester with sickness and injuries,” Crane said. “We’ve not had a whole team, so to speak, for some time. They all know they’re all gonna contribute at some point. We’ve had different starting lineups, and they’re fine with that. They’re content with their roles, even though their roles can change.”
Crane is optimistic the players will avoid the pratfalls of losing focus over the holiday break.
“We’ve given them workouts and things they need to do over Christmas,” she said. “If they don’t do anything to stay in shape, then it’ll be rough when they get back, and we’ve got a tough conference schedule ahead of us. But these kids have had a hard first semester. Our break comes at a good time for us, mentally and physically. They’ll take some time to rejuvenate themselves and get their batteries and motors going again.”
Allen (24-11-20-18—73)
FG/3pt FT F TP
Chambel 3/1 0 3 9
