Allen women go 1-1 at Dodge City Classic

Sports

November 19, 2012 - 12:00 AM

DODGE CITY — The crowds at the Dodge City Classic were treated to an entertaining weekend of basketball, courtesy of the Allen Community College women.
The Red Devils used hot shooting from outside and a key run late in the contest Friday to down host Dodge City 80-74.
Allen came up short in its upset bid Saturday against Garden City, but still managed to take the 14th-ranked Broncbusters to the final moments in a 76-70 loss.
The split puts ACC at 3-3 on the season.
After starting the 2012-13 campaign with six consecutive road games, the Red Devils hit the home court for the first time Tuesday in a rematch against Butler County. Butler defeated Allen 78-55 Nov. 8 in a game coach Mark James said was much closer than the final score indicated.
James was pleased with Allen’s performance in both contests over the weekend.
Friday’s tilt looked to be a potential runaway. Allen shot a blistering 14 of 23 from 3-point range before intermission to open a 52-32 lead at the break.
“Having a large halftime lead usually goes one of two ways,” James said. “The team trailing kind of calls it a day and the score gets out of hand; or the team leading has a hard time matching their first half intensity.”
Dodge City showed it was in no mood to give up without a fight, and the Red Devils lost some of their intensity, James said.
The Lady Conquistadors erased the 20-point deficit with six minutes left in regulation.
A pair of clutch 3-pointers by DaNara Day and Brittney Redmond put Allen back in control.
“Dodge City deserves a ton of credit. They refused to quit,” James said. “I was very pleased to see our kids not get rattled by the run they made at us in the second half.”
Ebonie Jones led the way with 24 points, including five 3-pointers. She also handed out eight assists. Day hit six treys to go along with 22 points. Redmond scored 11, as did Iola native Kendra Taiclet in her high-scoring mark of the season. Taiclet also led the Red Devils with nine rebounds in her first game in the starting lineup.
 
FRIDAY’S game had one other unfortunate byproduct.
Starting point guard Miracle Davis was limited to 15 minutes because of a hand injury that ultimately led James keeping her out of the Garden City matchup on Saturday.
“She argued with me to play against Garden City, but I refused to risk further injuring her without knowing the extent of the injury,” he said. “I imagine she’s still not happy with me.”
The shorthanded Red Devils stood toe to toe with Garden City.
Allen held a lead late in the contest, but a pair of missed free throws and a costy turnover gave Garden City the lead for good, he said.
“Saturday’s game may have ended in a loss, but I left the arena never feeling more proud of a group of kids,” James said. “It was great to see our kids accept a challenge like this and answer the ball.”
Hannah Blackwell paced Allen with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Garden City — a squad that plays five 6-footers — Leslie Ware and Day both scored 11. Redmond had 10 points.
Ronesha Hall came off the bench to score eight points in 11 points.
James hopes the Red Devils can maintain their intensity in Tuesday’s rematch with Butler County.
“It was an entertaining, playoff type of game. It was a very emotional game, and we look forward to the challenge of yet another top-notch quality opponent.”
Tuesday’s tipoff is at 6 p.m.
Friday
Allen (52-28—80)
Dodge City (32-42—74)
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Jones 3/5-3-1-24, Saulsberry 0-0-1-0, Davis 1-0-2-2,, Morton 0/1-1-1-4, Day 1/6-2-1-22, Redmond 2/2-1-0-11, Taiclet 1/3-0-1-11, Ware 0/2-0-0-6, Seward 0-0-1-0, Blackwell 0-0-3-0. TOTALS: 12/19-7-13-80.
Saturday
Allen (24-46—70)
Garden City (36-40—76)
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Jones 2/1-0-1-7, Morton 0-1-1-1, Day 0/2-5-5-11, Flanigan 0/3-1-5-10, Peel 2/1-0-1-7, Taiclet 1-1-0-3, Ware 4-3-2-11, Blackwell 4-4-1-12, Hall 2-4-3-8. TOTALS: 15/7-19-18-70.

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