Now we're getting serious: KC sinks TVCC

A BITTERSWEET NIGHT OF CONFERENCE ACTION — Kilgore College sophomore Denetra Kellum (32, above) is surrounded by Trinity Valley players. Kellum and the Lady Rangers would go on to beat TVCC in double overtime, 85-82, their first win over the Lady Cardinals since 1998. Below: Sonny Soloman (44) of KC is pressured. The Rangers lost to TVCC in OT, 86-79. Those at the Kilgore College-Trinity Valley Community College ladies basketball game on Saturday night probably saw KC head coach Roy Thomas the happiest he's been since his arrival here three years ago.

Thomas, who threw his arms up in celebration following the Lady Rangers' overtime win, had reason to celebrate. Neither he nor the two head coaches before him had beaten Trinity Valley — in fact, the current group of Lady Rangers were all likely in diapers the last time it happened in 1998.

But it did happen at Masters Gymnasium on Saturday night, an 85-82 win over the Lady Cardinals in double overtime. Making it even more sweet, the Lady Cards, who have pretty much dominated the Region XIV Conference in the last decade, were ranked No. 7 nationally coming into the game.

Photos by Lester Murray It was also KC's fourth straight win. The Lady Rangers (12-2 overall, 3-2 in conference play) haven't been defeated since coming back from their holiday break.

KC likely wouldn't have been able to pull off the feat without clutch performances down the way, including a free throw by Ashley Ferrell in the end of the first overtime that tied the game. Both teams had a chance to win the game in regulation, with TVCC's DeShawna Banks missing a shot with 16 seconds left, then KC's Danyell Oliver missing when her last-second shot was blocked.

In the first overtime, KC held a 74-72 lead, but TVCC's Shareese Ulis hit a clutch three-point shot with just over a minute left in the game to put the Lady Cards up by one, 75-74. Both teams committed turnovers, and then Ferrell was fouled and went to the line with a chance to either tie or win the game. She missed the first free throw, but hit the second. Ulis had a shot to win the game for Trinity Valley, but lost the ball, and the game went to Overtime No. 2.

In that extra period, the Lady Rangers took what would turn out to be the last lead of the game with about 1:45 left on a free throw by Teniqua Gray, a sophomore from Pflugerville. That put the Lady Rangers in front 83-82.

KC's leading scorer on the season, Kirbyville's Denetra Kellum, hit a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left, and then Banks missed a three-point shot with five seconds remaining, Trinity Valley's last grasp at the victory.

The loss was the Lady Cardinals' first in conference play this season, and the teams don't meet again until the regular season's final week, a Feb. 25 game at Athens.

For the Lady Rangers, Oliver, a freshman from Napoleonville, La., scored 26 points (and hit five treys). Sophomore Janae Henderson had 20 points and 11 rebounds for KC, and Kellum had 12, going a perfect 5-for-5 at the freethrow line. Banks led TVCC with 22 points.

The Lady Rangers will look for their fifth straight win Wednesday night at Paris — the double header tips off with the ladies game at 5:30, the men to follow. Both games will air live on KZQX 105.3-FM, and online at tsrnsports.com, with Manny Almanza's call on both.

• TVCC 86, KC 79, OT (men): A good start didn't equal a good finish for coach Brian Hoberecht's Rangers, who led by 22 at one point near the beginning of the second half, only to see the game go to overtime. KC sophomore LaMarshall Corbett hit a shot with 33 seconds left that gave the Rangers a 69-67 lead, but Trinity's Amir Rashad hit two free throws with less than a second on the clock — the scoreboard read .5 seconds — in regulation and tie the game at 69.

KC fell to 7-9 overall, and 2-3 in conference with the loss.

Corbett, a North Carolina native, went 12- of-19 from the floor and led KC with 29 points and seven rebounds. Troy Cage, a sophomore from Baton Rouge, La., scored 20, hitting 10-of-18 shots. No other Ranger scored in double figures, but Dwayne Soders, a sophomore from Fort Worth, pulled down 15 rebounds for KC.

Dexter Ellington of TVCC led all scorers with 25 points, and Rashad added 19 for the Cardinals, who are also 2-3 in conference play.