The Allen Community College men and women tipped off their 2023 slate of home KJCCC conference matchups on Saturday when they split a pair of games with Labette Community College.
The Red Devil men (12-5; 1-0) jumped out big early and never surrendered their lead in a 78-58 victory. The Lady Red Devils (11-5) were outmuscled and allowed the Cardinals too many second chance baskets in a 65-52 loss.
Women’s Basketball
Allen went down early due to Labette’s Janiya Reed scoring a three and a pair of layups in the opening quarter. Nisea Burrell also added a pair of layups to help the Cardinals take a nine-point advantage by the end of the first.
Naomi Smith and Sara Ortiz helped Allen out early, each bucketing a pair of two-point baskets. The Lady Red Devils still trailed the Cardinals heading to the second, 21-12.
Allen was able to get back into the game in the second by outscoring Labette, 17-16. Smith continued her solid scoring day when she banked in a trio of layups in the second quarter. The Cardinals were led in the second by Wakiryah’s pair of three’s and Reed’s three-pointer.
Allen trailed Labette at halftime, 37-29. 
Labette’s second chance points hurt the Lady Devils most in the second half when they were led by Daniels three and a two-pointer as well as a three from Reed. Ortiz got the Lady Devils on the board in the third after scoring a pair of two’s and a free throw.
The Cardinals outscored the Lady Devils in the fourth, 15-11, to secure a 13-point victory. Labette was led offensively by Alexis Calderon’s three and two-pointer as well as Burrell’s pair of layups. Allen was led in the fourth by Smith’s seven points, including a three.
The Lady Red Devils were led offensively by Smith’s 20 points and Ortiz’s nine points. 
Allen led Labette around the rim, out rebounding the Cardinals, 43-34. Skyler Evans snatched 11 rebounds while Smith grabbed seven boards. The Lady Devils also forced 16 turnovers and made nine steals.
Men’s Basketball
The Allen men were able to get out to an early lead and never trailed the rest of the night. The Devils defense stepped up big and only allowed the Cardinals to shoot 15.6% in the first half and 26.2% from the field for the game.
The Red Devils were led offensively by three scorers finishing in double figures as Donovan Seamster scored 13, Ahmed Mahgoub had 12 and Chris Dixon netted 11. Seamster started the night strong in the first half and knocked down three-of-seven of his 3-point attempts.
The Red Devils were able to play all 14 of their boys. 
The second half couldn’t have begun better for Allen as it didn’t allow Labette to score through the first six minutes of the half. The Devils took advantage and extended their lead to as high as 35 before Labette cut the lead back down to 20 points.
The Red Devils were outrebounded by the Cardinals, 47-43. Brayden Thompson led with seven rebounds, followed by Chris Dixon’s five boards and Nick Whittick and Malachi Martin’s four rebounds apiece.
Allen hits the road to take on Hesston College on Wednesday at 6 and 8 p.m.
