KC GETS A SWEEP! | Lady Rangers, Rangers take conference doubleheader; both home again Saturday
There’s a reason they call it “home, sweet home,” and both Kilgore College basketball teams took advantage of being at home here at Masters Gymnasium on Wednesday night, getting a pair of Region XIV Conference wins in a doubleheader in front of the KC-partisan crowd.
Coach Stephanie Williams’ team beat Angelina College soundly, 76-39, bouncing back from Saturday’s five-point loss to Panola College in Carthage, and then the Rangers blew by Bossier Parish, 78-60, in the nightcap.
On Saturday, both teams will be home again. The Lady Rangers will host Coastal Bend at 2 p.m., and the Rangers will host Panola just after that, around 4.
KC 76, Angelina 39 (women): After Wednesday night’s blowout win at home, the Lady Rangers are 12-7 overall this season, 2-2 in conference play, and technically they’re in fifth place in the standings – Tyler Junior College leads the conference with a 3-0 record and there are three teams tied for second (Panola, Trinity Valley and Blinn are each 2-1).
KC is tough to beat at home: they’re 7-1. On the road, though, they’ve got work to do: they’re 1-4.
Wednesday night, KC dropped 21 points in the first quarter, held Angelina to six and never looked back.
By the game’s end, Kamari Forrest came off the bench to score 16 points and lead all scorers. She was 6-of-9 shooting and also had a rebound and an assist. Jarahle Daniels scored 15, and had a rebound, three steals and blocked a shot. She was 2-of-5 from three-point range.
Nakiyah Allen was the only other Lady Ranger in double figures: she had 11 points, and also had 11 rebounds, to go with a steal and a blocked shot. Madison Bob had nine points, five rebounds, blocked three shots and added two assists for good measure.
Ja’Sani Green and Tylissa Henderson each scored six: Henderson had four rebounds, two assists and two steals and blocked a shot, and Green had three rebounds and an assist. Camryn Beck scored four points for KC and had six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Alana Trail, Deyna Topia, Anyla Herbert and Rhianna Battles each scored two for KC, and Brooklyn King had one – every player scored for the Lady Rangers.
KC 78, Bossier Parish 60 (men): Coach Robert Byrd’s Rangers snapped a two-game losing skid on Wednesday night with an 18-point home win, their sixth in 10 games at Masters Gym.
Kaiden Myers led the way with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting, and had two rebounds, three steals and two assists. Abdullah Olajuwon had 17 points, five assists and two rebounds, and Cahmai Crosby had 12 points, six assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Joshua Olutayo had eight points, five rebounds and a steal. Nekabari Mil had five points and Bryson Holmes and Jonathan Byrd each had four.
To get the win is great, but the news isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, to quote Rocky Balboa, for the Rangers. They’ve got some work to do.
They’re 10-8 overall, and more importantly, 4-6 in the conference, and that’s eighth-place overall. To give you a scope of the whole picture, Trinity Valley is the conference leader at 9-1, and everyone is staggered, like doorsteps, at a game back from that. Tyler and Blinn are tied at 5-5 after Wednesday night’s games, and they’re right in front of KC.
The good news: there’s plenty of time.
The Rangers can make up some ground on Saturday with a win at home over Panola College. PC is 7-3 in conference play. After that, there’s a trip to Paris Junior College on Wednesday; currently, Paris is 3-7. Take care of business there, and KC is up to 6-6, still with the whole month of February in front of them.
