With the first half of the game erupting into a
three-point shooting contest between the Angelina College Lady
Roadrunners and the No. 18 Panola Ponies, the question became, Who
could sustain the hot hand?
It turned out to be AC’s Desiree Waller.
Waller lit up the Fillies for 30 points in AC’s 88-83 win; her big
night included five threes in nine attempts. Twenty-three of her
points came in the first half, but according to head coach Byron
Coleman, the Thibodaux, La. freshman could have tallied a lot more.
“Desiree did a great job in the first half, knocking down threes and
putting the ball on the floor and pulling up,” Coleman said. “But I
felt we didn’t look for her near enough in the last few minutes of the
half. You get a player that hot, you have to keep feeding her the
ball.”
The two teams combined to shoot 24-of-67 from behind the line, with
the Fillies finishing with 13 after nailing 10 in the first half
alone.
“We didn’t do a good job of contesting their shots in the first half,”
coach Byron Coleman said. “We gave them way too many open shots. The
second half was just a matter of covering spots, and that limited
their damage over those final 20 minutes.”
However, as big as the threes loomed early, the one-point shots became
an even bigger factor as a tight game progressed. Panola’s perimeter
shooting approach led to just eight trips to the free-throw line – all
of those in the second half – where the Fillies hit half of those
attempts. AC, more aggressive in their drives to the hoop, hit 15
freebies, including six over the final two minutes to stave off
Panola’s last rally. This after the Fillies had pulled to within two
points at 74-72 late in the contest.
The win moves the Lady ‘Runners past the Fillies and into second place
with a record of 12-6, 6-2. Panola drops to 13-6, 6-3.
“They were 18th in the nation coming in, so this is a huge win for
us,” Coleman said. “It creates a little space – not much, but a little
– in the standings.”
During a halftime ceremony, the team honored Anderson Elementary third
grader Charlotte Gainvors as the Angelina College/Triple AAA Trophy
Student of the Week.
The Lady Roadrunners travel to Paris on Saturday, with the game
scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
