Leopaul scores 22 for KC in victory over Trinity Valley; ladies lose

Slowly but surely, the Kilgore College Rangers are turning the tide of a bad conference start.

The Rangers went to Athens over the weekend and picked up a 79-64 win over Trinity Valley Community College, and suddenly find themselves with a respectable Region XIV Conference record, and plenty of time left to make a legitimate run at the playoffs.

Things didn’t go quite as well in Athens for the KC Lady Rangers, as they dropped a 91-54 decision to the NJCAA’s second-ranked Lady Cardinals. But the playoff picture isn’t bleak for the KC ladies, either.

The Rangers host Navarro Wednesday night in a one-game night at Masters Gymnasium. Tipoff for the contest will be 7 p.m. The game can also be heard live on KTPB 88.7-FM.

 Rangers 79, TVCC 64 (men): Jonathan Leopaul had another big night for the Rangers (10-7 overall, 4-5 in RXIV play). Leopaul scored 22 poitns to lead all scorers in this big conference win for KC.

Teammates Marcus Thornton scored 16 and Marcus Hubbard had 15, and eight rebounds. James Causey finished with 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

The leading scorer for the Cardinals was Sam Gammel.

KC took a 10-point lead on the back of a big run in the second half, and never really looked back.

The next two weeks could be the biggest key to the Rangers’ postseason hopes. The Rangers (and Lady Rangers, after Wednesday) have three of their next four games at home: Wednesday night, they host Navarro; Saturday afternoon, they play at Jacksonville; Wednesday night, Feb. 1, they host Panola; and Saturday, Feb. 4, they host Lon Morris.

 Lady Cardinals 91, Lady Rangers 54: The No. 2 Trinity Valley Lady Cardinals are still the top dog in Region XIV women’s play, and showed it Saturday against a KC squad that has been improved this season.

But KC looked very much like an inferior team during a long 12plus-minute scoring drought that extended from midway through the first half and eight minutes into the second.

During that time, the Lady Cards, who have lost just once this season, dropped in 30 points. TVCC led 42-36 at the half.

For KC, Josilyn Wilkes led with 12 points, and leading scorer Adonna Weaver had 11, but didn’t score in the second half. Weaver also had nine rebounds.

Jokeirra Sneed led TVCC with 17 points and also had 13 rebounds. Simone Cooks scored 13 points.

The Lady Cardinals played outstanding defense — KC hit just six shots in the first half.