Alan Hoskins
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
College Advancement
Coming off winning the championship in the Surf ‘N Slam Classic in San Diego, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Lady Blue Devils were poised to end an 8-game losing streak at Johnson County Saturday when Lady Luck turned against them.
Leading 41-38 with 1.3 seconds remaining and the ball under their own basket, the Lady Blue Devils had their in-bounds pass deflected to the Cavaliers’ Sasha Barnes, who retrieved the deflection, took one dribble and launched a desperation 3-point shot that dropped through as the final horn sounded. Ironically, Barnes was 0-for-9 from the field before the dramatic game-tying shot. The overtime was never in doubt as the Blue Devils managed only 2 of 11 shots while JCCC was 5 of 7 including a pair of 3-pointers in a 58-45 win.
The Blue Devil men (4-9) were no more fortunate, dropping an 85-73 decision for their seventh straight loss. Both teams open a three-game homestand Saturday, hosting Allen County at 2 and 4 p.m.
KCKCC women’s trailed only twice in the second half and went ahead 41-38 on baskets by Sarah Craft and Ashleigh Gallio in the final 2:43 before the heartbreaking game-tying shot. Gallio led the Blue Devils with 13 points and seven assists while Cameron Roland, Alexa McGrory and Kelsey Stanbrough added nine points each. Shannon Carlin led rebounding with nine with Craft adding seven for KCKCC, which made only 2 of 6 free throws to 16 of 17 for JCCC.
Johnson County (9-3) broke the men’s game open with a 19-2 run late in the first half to open a 37-17 lead and then held off a Blue Devil rally that got within six points on three occasions in the second half. Melvin Gatson had a career high 26 points for KCKCC while Derrick Denny added 9 and Travis Fairley and Scott Fruehling 8 each. Jack Shortell led the Blue Devils to a 41-39 rebounding edge with 12 but fouled out as did starters Jonathon Wright and Derrick Howard, who had nine assists.
TOURNEY WIN – The KCKCC women defeated host San Diego City College 55-41 and the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha 65-54 to win the Surf ‘N Slam Classic. Three Blue Devil sophomores were named to the all-tournament team, Cameron Roland, Ashleigh Gallio and Alexa McGrory, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Defense was the key in both wins. The Blue Devils limited San Diego to 20.3 percent shooting in the tournament opener and held Waukesha to 26.1 percent. McGrory led all scorers and rebounders with 18 points and 16 rebounds while Roland added 12 points and seven rebounds and Gallio seven assists in the win over San Diego.
Waukesha never led in the championship game as KCKCC opened a 37-22 halftime lead. While McGrory again led with 14 points and 12 rebounds, the Blue Devil bench outscored Waukesha 29-18 as Kelsey Stanbrough and Jessi Hilliard each added eight points, Kristian Dodds six and Sarah Craft five. They were joined by starters Shannon Carlin and Gallio with eight points each and Roland with six. Gallio also had seven assists and seven rebounds and Craft seven rebounds.