Navarro makes things worse for Runnin' Rangers
JUNIOR COLLEGE BASKETBALL
By MITCH LUCAS sports@kilgorenewsherald.com

Photo by Lester Murray BIG MACK - Ridge McKeither (front), a freshman from Virginia, puts up a shot. McKeither scored 16 points and had 11 rebounds against Navarro, but the Rangers lost, 80-65.

In spite of the fact that the Kilgore College Runnin' Rangers haven't won as much this year in the Region XIV Conference, they might can take solace in this one thing: it's not that they're bad. The conference is loaded.

KC lost its fifth straight game Wednesday night, an 80-65 loss to a Navarro team that isn't near the top of the standings. And the reason for that is simple: Paris (the No. 7-ranked team in the nation), San Jacinto (whose only loss is to Paris) and Tyler are all in the conference.

With the defeat, the Rangers fell to 10-8 overall, 2-8 in Region XIV, and the road continues Saturday with a trip to Jacksonville to face Lon Morris. The Lady Rangers were off Wednesday (Navarro doesn't have a women's basketball team), but will be in action Saturday afternoon at LMC, a 2 p.m. women's game tipoff, with men to follow. The Lady Rangers, too, are on a losing streak, having lost their last three.

KC fell behind early on Wednesday at home to Navarro, Chris Roberts, a sophomore from Fort Worth, hit a three-pointer about 30 seconds after the game began that gave Navarro's Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. The Rangers were close on several occasions throughout the game, but never led.

Nick Walls, just one of Kilgore's many talented freshmen, hit a couple of baskets, then KC got a three-pointer from Brandon Roberson, and pulled within three points (27-24) with 6:21 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs were up to the challenge, though. Navarro reeled off nine straight points. The end of the first half came on a high note for Kilgore College, who got a pair of three-point plays (a basket, then a foul and subsequent free throw) from Danville, Va., native Ridge McKeither and from Cameroon native Emmanuel Bidas A Moute. KC trailed by just seven, 42- 35, at halftime.

Gerald Brown scored a bucket with 18:52 left in the second half and cut Navarro's lead to five, and James Graham did the same with another bucket at the 12:39 mark. But that was as close as the Rangers could get it.

McKeither, who regularly leads KC in scoring, did so again with 16 points. He also had 11 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot, but scored just four in the second half. Roberson, a sophomore from Rosharon, scored 15, and had three rebounds. Bidas A Moute scored nine points and had two steals and a rebound, but didn't score in the second half. And La'Marshall Corbett, a freshman from Reidsville, N.C., had nine, all in the second half and all on three-pointers, and had three rebounds.

Walls, a freshman from Memphis, finished with eight points, two rebounds and a steal. Brown and Graham each had two points, and Omar Thomas, a freshman from Detroit, Mich., didn't score, but had six rebounds.

KC's teams visit Lon Morris Saturday afternoon - hear both contests live on KZQX 105.3-FM, or online at tsrnsports.com - and then hosts Blinn on Wednesday, a 5:30 p.m. women's game start.