There was a little bad, but a lot of good, for Allen Community College’s basketball team Wednesday.
The Red Devils started the second half with a burst to dispatch a pesky Ottawa Junior Varsity squad, 86-68, to start the 2023 season under first-year head coach Patrick Nee.
“Now we’ve got this on film, so we can start breaking this down, showing our mistakes, and see things we’ve got to get better at doing,” Nee said.
Allen’s lineup is radically different from the past few seasons, newcomers up and down the roster.
It’s one of the byproducts of assembling a team in two short months, Nee noted, and relying heavily on transfers.
But while none of ACC’s players were on the same team together last season, many of the players knew each other in high school and on the AAU circuit.
The Red Devils sport eight players from Oklahoma, for example, and three others hail from the Bronx, and grew up together.
“You don’t know how they’re gonna mix together, and we saw a little bit of that tonight,” Nee said. “We had guys look each other off a couple of times and we were a bit selfish at times.”
Allen led most of the first half, but could never pull away, thanks in large part to Ottawa’s ability to move the ball around on offense.
“They’re a four-year school, and they’re gonna make us guard them for 30 seconds,” Nee said. “And we’re an immature group. We’re coming down off one or no passes and shooting the ball. If you keep doing that through the game, it’s a bad deal.”
Allen led 39-35 at the break, leading to a spirited halftime discussion. “I got on ‘em pretty hard,” Nee said.
Message received.
Allen was a bit more deliberate on offense, getting the ball inside to freshman center Dirk Johnson to start the session. His putback at the 18:33 mark capped a 6-0 run to start the half, pushing the lead to double digits for the first time.
Grayson Ryan’s 3-pointer with 13 minutes to go pushed the lead to 59-40, largely erasing any doubt as to the game’s outcome.
“For the first game, we’ll take it,” Nee said. “Ottawa’s a very good JV program;we don’t take them lightly. We had our hands full in the first half, and we found a way in the second. Obviously, when you’re making 3’s it’s a lot better.”
Five Red Devils reached double figures, led by EJ Lewis, wh poured in 19 points and corralled seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
Jante Jackson added 18 points, nine boards and four assists. Grayson Ryan scored 17 points with six rebounds. Tyonn Scott had 14 points and David Teele scored 10.
