KANSAS CITY, KAN. ----- The road continued to serve Kansas City Kansas Community College’s women well but not so much the men.
The 15th ranked Lady Blue Devils ran their record to 12-1 over the weekend by defeating host Southeast 58-46 Friday and No. 19 ranked Central Nebraska Saturday in the Southeast Nebraska Classic in Beatrice but the Blue Devil men fell to Southeast 75-69 Friday and Central 83-66 on Saturday.
The KCKCC women will close out pre-holiday play Tuesday at Cottey College in Nevada, Mo., while the men will take on Mineral Area Saturday at 7 p.m. at Park University.
Rebounding and defense were the keys as the women stretched their winning streak to five. In the 58-46 win over Southeast, the Lady Blue Devils converted 23 Southeast turnovers into 23 points and five players had nine or more rebounds in winning the battle of the boards 60-49.
Imani White led the way with 16 points and nine rebounds while Iland Shurn added 10 points and 10 rebounds. Janai Mitchell led rebounding with 11 and assists with four while Cassidy Harbert and Julia Garrard contributed nine rebounds each.
No. 19 Central was limited to 19.7 percent shooting and outrebounded 57-45 as the Blue Devils overcame a whopping 34 turnovers in the 68-46 win Saturday.
Harbert had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists; White 11 points and 11 rebounds; and Rashaun Casey 10 points and five rebounds. Shurn chipped in with nine rebounds and Alesana Eirenei seven. “Anytime you can win two on the road, it’s good but we still have an awfully lot of room for improvement,” said KCKCC Coach Valerie Stambersky.
Southeast wore down KCKCC’s 8-man squad Friday, rallying from a 54-42 deficit in the final 15 minutes. Shooting 53.1 percent the first half, the Blue Devils led 43-35 only to manage just 8 of 24 second half shots for 33.1 percent.
Lucas Smith led KCKCC with 16 points and eight rebounds but had four fouls; Anthony Ridley had 15 points and five assists before fouling out; and Brandon Ward scored a dozen points in 14 minutes of playing time.
Central came out blazing in Saturday’s 83-66 win, shooting 59.4 percent the first half in building a 48-32 lead and finishing with 56.9 percent for the game. Brandon Ward led KCKCC with 29 points and five rebounds while Anthony Ridley added 11 points and Stephen Leimbach 8.
