Rangers, Lady Rangers stumble to 0-3 in conference

The Kilgore College basketball teams both have just one more chance to get a conference victory in the 2005 calendar year.

That chance is Wednesday night.

Both KC basketball squads lost to Tyler Junior College on Saturday afternoon here at Masters Gymnasium — the Lady Rangers lost, 85-53, their worst loss of the season, and the Runnin’ Rangers lost to the somewhat-surprising Apaches, 81-61. TJC’s men are undefeated so far this season.

And both KC teams have yet to win a Region XIV Conference game. Both are 0-3.

Kilgore College will host another doubleheader Wednesday, facing Blinn. The ladies game will tip off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men, and both will air live on KTPB 88.7-FM, and on the Texas Sports Radio Network’s web site, www.tsrnsports.com.

That’s the last action for both teams until 2006. The Lady Rangers, coached by Contina James, will take the holidays off, then take part in the SAWBC Classic in Waco, facing Southwest Christian on Jan. 3 and McClennan on Jan. 4.

Coach Scott Schumacher’s Rangers are off even longer — following Wednesday’s game against Blinn, the Rangers won’t play again until Jan. 7, a trip to Baytown to face Lee College.

The KC teams had their hands full with TJC over the weekend.

TJC led 43-25 at the half, and although KC came back, the Lady Rangers could have been in the game with a better shooting performance. The Lady Rangers (4-6 overall, 0-3 in conference play) went 6-of-26 from the free-throw line, 1-of-12 from three-point range and 23-of-60 on the afternoon.

KC still had three players — Timila Martin (15), Adonna Weaver (11) and Erica Henderson (10) to hit double figures in scoring, with Weaver grabbing 13 rebounds, as well. Savannah Thompson scored six for the Lady Rangers.

TJC was led by Mamie James’ 17 points. Jamia Malone scored 13, Laquisha Cook 10, Donnisha Tate and Tiffany McNeely each had nine and former Kilgore High School standout Hope Walker scored eight.

Walker was part of a KHS girls basketball run that included three trips to the playoffs (the last three seasons) and two district championships.

 Apaches 81, Rangers 61: The Runnin’ Rangers didn’t fare much better.

KC scored just 17 points in the first half, routed by TJC 42-17 by the halftime break.

The Rangers, who missed more than 60 percent of their shots against Lon Morris last week, had a difficult first half shooting, hitting just 8 of 33 (and hitting no three-point shots — they were 0-for-7).

KC was led by Jonathan Leopaul and Ron Larris, sophomores who each scored 11.

Antonio Odom also hit double figures with 10 points, as KC played much better in the second half. Marcus Hubbard scored nine points and James Causey scored eight.

Five Apaches hit double figures — Tyrone Cole led all scorers with 22 points, and Nate Garner had 14 points. Justin Johnson also scored 14. Delbert Simpson scored 12, and Ifeanyi Koggu scored 11. Garner pulled down 11 rebounds.