Johnson County pulls away to drop Allen men

A second-half lull did in Allen Community College’s men once again Wednesday.
The Red Devils led 18-9 early in the contest and 27-25 at halftime over visiting Johnson County at intermission.
But the Cavaliers scored six straight points early after intermission to take the lead for the first time. Allen later tied the game but never regained the lead in a 65-54 loss.
The defeat keeps the Red Devils winless in Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division play (0-9) and 4-17 overall.
“We started out strong, but once we got the early lead, we started playing a little bit selfishly, taking early 3-pointers,” Red Devil coach Andy Shaw said. “I was disappointed with our effort, especially because of how hard we played our last couple of games. We had good effort at different points, but not a full 40 minutes.”
Johnson County’s Logan Henrichs drained a 3-pointer with just under 6 minutes left to break open a one-point lead for the Cavaliers. Cameron Blue drained a pair of free throws for the Red Devils at the 5:33 mark to cut the lead to 48-46, but Christian Hildebrant responded with a 3-point play for the Cavaliers with 4:43 left to kick off an 11-0 run over the next 2:29 to seal the win.
DeAndrae Barnette drained a pair of 3-pointers the final 1:44, but Allen got no closer than eight points.
The ending was a far cry from the beginning for the Red Devils.
Bryce Schippers drained a 3-pointer to break a 7-7 deadlock. His trey at the midway point of the first half, followed by a pull-up jumper at the 9:30 mark pushed the Red Devils on top 18-9.
Tony Jones and Henrichs triggered a 9-0 Cavalier run over the next 2 1/2 minutes, capped by Henrichs’ basket with just under 7 minutes left in the half.
Allen stayed even or just ahead through the balance of the half. Blue’s basket with 1:24 left gave the Red Devils at 25-23 lead.
Johnson County opened the second half with an 11-3 run. The Cavaliers were up 37-30 before Seth Walden drained a 3-pointer, followed by a Schippers jumper, cutting the deficit to two. A steal led to an Alex Keiswetter basket to tie the score at 37-37 with 12:11 left.
Johnson County followed with a four-point run before Andrew Rountree drained a pair of free throws for Allen.
Andrew Rountree’s free throws with 10:51 remaining snapped a four-point Johnson County run. Walden’s second 3-pointer of the half cut the deficit to 43-42. Myles Hibler hit two free throws to restore a three-point lead before Tray Fountain scored for Allen at the 6:26 mark, which wound up being Allen’s last field goal of the night.
Schippers led Allen with 10 points, followed by Rountree with nine points and six rebounds. DeAndrae Barnette chipped in with eight points. Rountree had four assists and four steals. Walden had eight points and three steals. Fountain and Keiswetter also had two steals.
All five Johnson County starters scored in double figures. Hibler had 16 points, Henrichs 15, Jones 14 and Hildebrant and Pat Jones with 10 apiece.
“I have to credit Johnson County,” Shaw said. “They were able to score 42 points in the second half, almost doubling what they had in the first.”
The Red Devils resume action Saturday at Highland.
Johnson (23-42—64)
Allen (25-29—54)
Johnson (FG/3p-FT-F-TP): Michael Hibler 0-0-1-0, Myles Hibler 6-4-1-16, Totta 0-0-1-0, Henrichs 2/2-5-0-15, Hildebrant 2/1-3-5-10, T. Jones 0/3-1-3-10, T. Jones 5/1-1-2-14. TOTALS: 14/7-14-13-65.
Allen (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Rountree 2-5-2-9, Burnes 0-1-0-1, Roberts 0-0-1-0, Fountain 2-2-5-6, Schippers 2/2-0-3-10, Uno 0/1-0-3-3, Keiswetter 2-0-2-4, Barnette 1/2-0-1-8, Blue 1-3-1-5, Walden 1/2-0-0-8. TOTALS: 11/7-11-18-54.