PARSONS — The Labette Community College Lady Larks sent a shockwave through the Jayhawk Conference Wednesday after upsetting the Allen Red Devils 65-50 Wednesday night.
Moments after speaking with her team, approaching the scorer’s table, Allen coach Leslie Crane pointed to the stat sheet that proved the Red Devils’ fall from grace — a 25% field goal percentage after hitting just 18-72 shots.
“That’s why we lost,” Coach Crane said.
Labette (4-14, 2-6) was not intimidated by Allen’s third place in the conference standings nor the Red Devils’ two-game win streak. Instead, they went on the attack and jumped out to an 18-11 lead by the second quarter. Crane attributed the loss to a lack of focus, which seemed only to grow as the contest wore on.
“You’re not going to beat anybody shooting only 25%,” Crane said. “We missed layup after layup, putback after putback. Right now, they all have yellow streaks going down their backs because it’s easier to give up than play hard. I’m disappointed and embarrassed.”
By the final whistle, only one Red Devil had reached double digits in scoring. Sophomore forward Jalynn Weakley had a double-double with a team-leading 15 points and 11 rebounds. While not Allen’s only highlight of the night, it seemed difficult for Allen to see the positive through so much adversity.
“We have a lot of talent, but it’s a lack of concentration to finish around the bucket,” Crane said. “They wanted it more than we did. With the mentality of kids, these are the things you run into. You have to be able to come back and fight every night. Labette fought through all kinds of stuff, and we have our own problems with injuries, but that does not make it OK not to fight.”
With the loss, the Red Devils’ record dropped to 18-8 overall and 5-3 in the conference. They hope to complete a season sweep of Fort Scott when they host the Greyhounds Saturday. Allen defeated Fort Scott 66-54 in January. After previously beating Labette 61-50 the same month, Coach Crane said her team is not overlooking anyone at this point.
“I don’t know if they have any fight left in them,” Crane said. “It was hard to watch. We need to get back, regroup and do what we can to get a win on Saturday.”
Tip-off for Saturday’s game is at 2 p.m.
