Slow start dooms Red Devil women

Allen Community College’s women were done in by aggression — or a lack of it — their head coach said Wednesday.
The Red Devils were limited to 14 points in the first half against visiting Fort Scott.
And while ACC picked up its pace after intermission, the Greyhounds answered every challenge in a 70-55 defeat.
The loss is Allen’s fourth in a row and drops the Red Devils to 4-6 on the season.
“We just weren’t ready to play in the first half at all,” Red Devil head coach Katie Mahoney said. “We were tentative coming off screens, we weren’t attacking the basket and our shots weren’t falling. Scoring 14 points in a half is pretty eye-opening.”
As a result, Fort Scott was able to race to leads of 9-3 and 16-5 in the first half.
Only three Allen players scored in the first half. Nicole Salazar drained an early 3-pointer, followed a few minutes later by a 2-point basket. Kylie Molisee got loose inside for a pair of buckets and O’ceonna Weston was 2 of 4 from the field for four points.
That was it.
The tone changed after Mahoney’s half-time discussion.
“But it still seemed to take a while in the second half before they started getting aggressive,” Mahoney said.
The Red Devils climbed back within 10 points 55-45, on Molisee’s 3-point play with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.
But Fort Scott’s Malori Gales was there to respond. She scored on consecutive possessions before Jessica Adams converted a 3-point play with 2:37 left on the clock to push the lead back to 16, 65-49. Gales wound up with 29 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Greyhounds.
After going to the line just three times in the first half, Allen hit 16 of 21 charities in the second. Fort Scott was even busier at the line, hitting 18 of 24 after intermission.
Salazar scored 14 of her 19 points after the break. Rebecca Fisher scored all 10 of her points after halftime, while Molisee wound up with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Salazar also had four assists and no turnovers.
“Nicole had a nice game in the second half,” Mahoney said. “She did most of her damage at the line. Kylie has had two straight strong games for us, and Rebecca hit some nice shots.”
Allen shot a paltry 30 percent, 18 of 60, from the field, inlcuding 2 of 12 from 3-point range. Fort Scott shot 42 percent, but hit 26 of 37 free throws overall.
Allen doesn’t get much time to sulk. The Red Devils will host Oklahoma Wesleyan’s junior varsity squad tonight at 6.
“Having an early turnaround allows the players to get the taste of this game out of their mouths,” Mahoney said.
Allen follows with a trip to Hesston Saturday.
Fort Scott (28-42—70)
Allen (14-41—55)
Fort Scott (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Shoulders 0-4-4-4, Valadez 0/1-0-4-3, Feldman 1-0-1-2, Gales 4/3-12-3-29, White 2-4-4-8, Cicero 1-1-4-3, Dellinger 1-0-0-2, Cole 3-1-1-7, McAdams 2-4-1-8, Wilhelmi 2-0-1-4. TOTALS: 16/4-26-23-70.
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Salazar 3/1-10-4-19, Fisher 2/1-3-5-10, Molisee 5-1-3-11, Shelton 1-0-2-2, Winter 0-0-4-0, Weston 2-1-4-5, McClellan 0-1-2-1, Cleaver 2-0-2-4, Stevens 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 16/2-17-29-55.