View additional photos from Tuesday night’s game here.
The Allen Community College Red Devils’ slide extended to four games after falling to the Crowder Roughriders 56-42 Tuesday night during Allen’s final tuneup before opening Jayhawk Conference play next week.
After holding their own early against Crowder, who instigated the Red Devils’ losing streak last month, Allen was held to just 2 points in the second quarter, which ultimately made the difference as the Red Devils played catch up from there.
“I’m disappointed in them because of their mental toughness,” Allen coach Leslie Crane said. “Right now, they’re not mentally tough at all. They have to do it on both ends. Usually, it’s the defensive end you have problems with, not the offensive end.”
Trailing 32-16 coming out of halftime, the Red Devils made a game of it in the third quarter.
Sophomore center Yolaine Luthi kickstarted a 16-9 run with a pair of buckets while leading Allen in scoring with 12 points and was second in rebounding with eight boards. Freshman guard Jennyfer Gros got into the action with a jumper, followed by a drive to the basket, cutting Crowder’s lead to single digits. Scores by sophomore guard Delta Shaw and freshman forward Joniya Lewis, who had a team-leading 11 rebounds, further narrowed Crowder’s cushion before a jumper by sophomore center Ja’Maya Garland before the third-quarter buzzer made it a three-score ballgame with Allen trailing 41-32.
“We played tougher tonight than we did Saturday,” Coach Crane said. “We handled their pressure. We did a great job analyzing their press, but we didn’t go to the bucket. We settled for jumpers. We settled for 3-point shots.”
Joniya Lewis, Allen Community College sophomore forward, gets a rebound and a bucket while going up for this putback Tuesday.
Allen would get no closer to victory Tuesday night as the Roughriders pulled away with a 15-10 fourth quarter to pick up the win. Lewis ended the night second in scoring with 10 points, followed by Garland and Gros with 6 points each. Luthi was second in rebounds with eight, followed by Garland and sophomore forward Tawhirikura Doyle with six each.
“We couldn’t put the ball in the hole, again,” Crane said. “We out rebounded them. We forced them into more turnovers. Here’s the problem. We didn’t hit a 3-point shot all night. We never made it to the free-throw line.”
Crane attributed Allen’s shortfalls to the final seconds before each shot.
Instead of players going up for contested shots with confidence, she sees her players fearful in the paint.
With a week-long layoff between games, Crane hopes to toughen her team up before they return to the hardwood.
“We were too scared. The reason we didn’t shoot free throws was because we were too scared to go to the bucket,” Crane said. “We were too scared to go hard and score inside. We have to keep coming in and getting after it in practice.”
Following the loss, the Red Devils’ record fell to 8-6. Despite the slide, Coach Crane remains confident in her team considering the bulk of their opponents came at the hands of NJCAA Division II teams. Next Wednesday, the Red Devils face a team their size in the Kansas City Kansas Community College Blue Devils. The Blue Devils come into the contest as the 15th ranked team in NJCAA DII. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.
