CHANUTE — Allen County Community College’s women came up on the short end of a pair of contests over the weekend, but should benefit from playing competitive games against a pair of highly regarded opponents, their head coach said.
ACCC took part in Neosho County Community College’s Panther Classic Friday and Saturday.
The Red Devils dropped a 69-57 decision Friday to Livin’ The Dream, a team consisting primarily of former college basketball players from Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Allen County lost Saturday to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College 74-52.
“I’ve never shied away from putting together a very competitive schedule,” Red Devil head coach Mark James said. “But when I agreed to play in this Classic, I had no idea we would be playing against a semi-pro team and a periennial NJCAA top 10 program.”
In Friday’s contest, Livin’ The Dream forged a 36-23 halftime lead to maintain its advantage. The Red Devils kept pace in the second half, and even owned a 34-33 scoring edge in the period.
Brittney Redmond led ACCC with 12 points, while Kyla Morton scored 11 points. Miracle Davis had seven points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Jamie Peel scored nine points, while Ebonie Jones and Hanna Blackwell scored seven points apiece.
Allen County shot 32 percent from the field and converted 2 of 6 free throws.
On Saturday, ACCC was hampered by a frigid start against NEO, and trailed 34-15 at the half. The Red Devils shot only 28 percent from the field, and went 20 of 27 from the line.
Peel scored 14 points and Rackell Goldson, 10. Goldson also had seven rebounds. Davis handed out three assists.
“Our team played extremely hard and battled for 40 minutes each night,” James said. “I refuse to believe that isn’t enough to feel good about and build upon as we move through our season. We have an extremely confident and competitive group of kids and they are all pretty disappointed about dropping a couple of games that we certainly had our chances of winning.
“Hopefully we get it put together for this weekend at home because the schedule certainly doesn’t get any easier any time soon,” he continued. “We have a perfect opportunity to make a statement this Friday.”
Allen County will host Cottey College on Friday in the opening round of the Red Devil Classic. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. Allen County takes on Bethel College in the second and final round at 6 o’clock Saturday in the final round of the tournament.
Red Devil women lose two
