Allen Community College’s women let a golden opportunity to win against a key rival slip through their grasp Wednesday, and in so doing, took a hit in the Jayhawk Conference race.
The Red Devils, who led visiting Neosho County by as many as 10 in the first half, struggled mightily after the break.
Neosho County limited the Red Devils to five points in the third quarter, and then took the lead for good midway through the fourth to claim a 57-52 victory.
The loss puts Allen 7-3 in conference play (18-3 overall) with games against nationally ranked Johnson County and Highland next on the schedule.
Highland is knotted with the Red Devils at 7-3, while Neosho County is one game behind at 6-4, but with a tiebreaker over ACC if the teams become tied in the standings because of their head-to-head matchups.
“Very disappointing,” Red Devil head coach Leslie Crane said. “We just said. “But the last two weeks, we have really started to figure things out, and guys are buying into their roles. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Allen’s Javeontae Costner, Tyler Pinder and Mike Smith took turns gashing the Panther defense with acrobatic drives to the hoop, particularly in the first half.
“We really guarded them well in the first half,” Nee said.
Pinder’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the break gave ACC a 43-24 lead.
The margin swelled to 24 early in the second half before Neosho County rallied with a 14-4 run to cut ACC’s lead to 58-42.
But Costner responded with a layup, Smith converted a traditional 3-point play and then Malachi Schilreff hit a pair of free throws and a layup as part of a 9-0 ACC run to push the lead back to 65-42 with 7:15 left.
The Panthers drew no closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Smith led a quartet of Allen players in double figures with 19. Pinder wound up with 16, Costner 15 and Schilreff 13.
Rodrigo Rubin scored 16, Adyn Prophete added 12 and Jordayn Buhrle scored 10 for Neosho County.
Additional statistics were not immediately available.
Allen has a doozy of a matchup next on the schedule, when the Red Devils travel Saturday to Johnson County, which remains unbeaten in conference play at 10-0 and ranked 10th in the country. The Cavaliers won a hard-fought 72-60 win over ACC Jan. 22.
