KC TAKES TWINBILL | Lady Rangers, Rangers win conference doubleheader; three games left before their conference tournaments
By SHAWN CHRISTOPHER
Special to ETBlitz.com
Kilgore College’s basketball teams both got back on the winning track with home wins at Masters Gymnasium on Saturday.
The Lady Rangers got a really important win: 82-70 over Panola College, breaking a tie between the teams for fourth place in the Region XIV Conference.
And the Rangers broke a two-game losing streak, topping last-place Lamar State-Port Arthur, 75-66.
It’s road trip time for Kilgore College on Wednesday, though. The Lady Rangers will play at 5:30 p.m. at Paris Junior College, and the Rangers head to Carthage to take on Panola College, a 7 p.m. tip-off.
KC 82, Panola College 70 (women): KC jumped all over Panola, 24-11, in the first quarter, setting the tone for the game.
Na’Kaylyn Wells and Awa Fane, both of Panola, would shine: 23 points for Fane, including 3-of-4 from three-point range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, and 25 for Wells, who led all scorers and also didn’t miss a free throw (5-of-5).
But it was KC with the win, out-rebounding Panola, 37-32, and hitting 34 shots from the floor, 6-of-10 from three-point range.
Ja’Sani Green scored 20 points to lead the Lady Rangers and had four rebounds. Kamari Forrest was next with 19 points, 5-of-5 from the line, five rebounds and two assists. She also had a couple of blocked shots.
Jarahle Daniels was back, hitting for 17 points, grabbing eight rebounds, eight steals and contributing with 8 assists. She also blocked four shots, just a monster game from the sophomore.
Nakiyah Allen had 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal; Anyla Herbert had seven points, three rebounds and three assists; and Rhianna Battles, Rhyeli Hendrick, and Brooklyn King each scored two points.
Elsewhere around the league in women’s play on Saturday, Tyler Junior College beat Blinn, 72-62; and Trinity Valley routed Angelina, 91-45.
The top of the conference standings looks like this: Trinity Valley leads RXIV with a 9-2 conference record. TJC and Blinn each sit at 8-3, in a tie for second. Kilgore College is alone now, at 7-4, after breaking the tie with Panola.
And there are only three games left in the regular season. Following the end of the regular season is the conference tournament. Coach Stephanie Williams’ Lady Rangers are 18-8 overall, and 11-1 at home.
KC 75, Lamar State-Port Arthur 66 (men): Another duo that was red-hot Saturday afternoon was Cahmai Crosby and Kaiden Myers of coach Robert Byrd’s Rangers. Crosby scored 27 points, had six rebounds and three assists in the win over Lamar-Port Arthur; Myers was just two behind: 25 points, and also had seven rebounds. Myers didn’t miss a shot from the free throw line: 13-of-13.
No other KC player scored in double figures, but Joshua Olutayo had eight rebounds to go with his five points.
Ke’Andre Jones had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead Lamar-Port Arthur.
So it breaks down like this: the Rangers (14-13 overall, 8-11 in conference) aren’t in the top echelon of the conference this season, as they have been on several occasions in years’ past. But they are playing well, in spite of a few losses, in the last week, and they also only have three games left beginning with Panola this Wednesday.
Peaking at the right time, right before the conference tournament? We’ll see.
