Allen County Community College’s Red Devil women were pretty pesky Wednesday night. They never allowed 22nd-ranked Labette Community College’s Cardinals to relax.
The Cardinals won the Jayhawk Eastern Division game 87-72. They had to use a 28-19 run in the final 11 minutes to thwart the upset-minded Red Devils.
After trailing 44-37 at halftime, the Red Devils stayed with the Cardinals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. A putback by Jazmynn Johnson and a three-pointer by Breanna Shaw, the Red Devils were within three points, 59-56.
Then re-enter Kellindra Zachery, a 6-foot sophomore, for Labette. Zachery led the Cardinals to a 15-7 lead before leaving in the first half because of a knee injury.
Zachery did not play again until the 11:30 mark of the second half. Allen County players and fans saw what a NCAA Division I player looks like with Zachery on the court.
“She transferred from Rutgers. She’s the real deal,” said Andy Hamilton, ACCC head coach, following the game. “Our girls played with great effort tonight but Labette showed why it is the 22nd-ranked team in the nation.”
Zachery only scored eight points but it was the six steals and six assists that gave the Cardinals a lift. She sent several long passes on target to teammates for easy baskets. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.
“Labette is just more athletic than we are. I’m very proud of our kids. They were very competitive tonight. This was a measuring-stick game for us.”
The player that hurt Allen County was Satoria Bell, who was on the end of a lot of passes inside. Bell scored 36 points and had 12 rebounds. Jasmine Smith added 14 points and Philicia Kelly had 10 points.
Allen County shot 42 percent, 27 of 64, from the field and hit 13 of 20 free throw attempts.
Shaw fired in 19 points and had five assists for the Red Devils. Johnson scored 14 points and controlled seven rebounds.
Dysyan Malone tossed in 11 points, had eight rebounds, four steals and four assists. Kynesha Nisbett added 10 points and Maurissa Shaffer had five assists.
Allen County is now 1-7 in Jayhawk East play and 7-13 overall. The Red Devils go to Independence (5-3, 14-5), which knocked off Coffeyville 70-58 Wednesday, on Saturday.
Allen County (37-35—72) (FG/3-pt): Shaw 3/3-4-0-19, Shaffer 1-0-1-2, Malone 4-3-4-11, Best 0-0-1-0 McNeese 1-0-1-2 Rockhold 1/1-3-1-8, House 2-2-2-6, Nisbett 3/1-1-3-10, Johnson 7-0-4-14. TOTALS: 22/5-13-17-72.
Labette (44-43—87) (FG/3-pt): Bell 15-6-3-36, Zachery 3-2-2-8, Sunde 0/3-0-2-9, Smith 4/1-3-2-14, Overacker 0-0-2-0, Kelly 3-4-5-10, Henderson 2-0-0-4, Andrews 2-2-1-6, Ellis 0-0-1-0, Pledger 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 29/4-17-21-87.
Cardinals beat ACCC women
