Allen County Community College’s Red Devil women put up a good fight at home Wednesday night against NJCAA Division II top-ranked Johnson County Community College.
The Lady Cavaliers raced to a 31-17 halftime lead. But found points hard to come by in the second half, beating the Red Devils 46-31.
“This was one of our best defensive games,” said Marcus Hicks, ACCC women’s head coach. “I was pleased with our play but not satisfied.”
The Red Devils fell to 0-5 in Jayhawk Eastern Division play and 2-14 overall. They have lost 13 in a row. Johnson County improved to 3-2 in conference and 13-2 overall.
Allen County travels to Parsons Saturday to play Labette Community College’s Cardinals. The game is at 5 p.m. at LCC. Labette is 2-3 and 5-12 after losing 78-59 to Cowley County Wednesday.
In other Jayhawk East games Wednesday, Kansas City beat Neosho County 84-47 and Independence defeated Fort Scott 71-51.
Cowley County and Independence stand atop the Jayhawk East at 5-0. Johnson County and Kansas City, Kan., are both 3-2.
Johnson County averaged 75 points a game coming into Wednesday’s game. The Red Devils held them way below that average. It was the lowest point totalin a victory for Johnson County this season.
Hicks said his players came up with the team’s keys to the game for Wednesday.
“We also talked about the locker room door being the line of discipline. They weren’t allowed to walk in and dress until they were focused on the game,” Hicks said. “Once dressed they could not come into the gym if that focus was lost.”
Allen County shot just 27 percent, 9 of 33, from the field. The Red Devils cashed in on 13 of 22 free throw attempts.
Aeriss McNeese led the Red Devils with 10 points. Jazmynn Johnson had seven rebounds and eight points. Queona Walker made four steals.
Johnson County had a 35 to 29 advantage in rebounding.
Johnson County got 13 points and 13 rebounds from Taylor Bird. Liz Smith tossed in 12 points.
The Lady Cavaliers were 19 of 47, 40 percent, from the field. They hit 5 of 15 free throw attempts.
Allen County (17-14—31): Shaffer 0-0-1-0, Walker 1-3-2-5, Swick 0-0-1-0, Best 1-0-0-2, McNeese 2-4-1-10, Johnson 4-0-3-8, Nisbett 0-6-2-6. TOTALS: 9-13-10-31.
Johnson County (31-15—46) (FG/3-pt): Bird 3/2-1-3-13, Hollingsworth 1-1-2-3, Specht 3-0-2-6, Kearney 0-1-0-1, Briggs 0-0-2-0, Newhouse 3/1-0-1-9, Cooper 1-0-2-2, Smith 5-2-3-12. TOTALS: 16/3-5-15-46.
Red Devils battle top-ranked Lady Cavaliers
