There’s no good time for a basketball team to suffer
offensive troubles, but on Saturday against a 3-5 Paris Lady Dragon
team, the Angelina College Roadrunners suffered one of their worst
offensive efforts of the season.
Shooting just 21 percent from the field and committing an
uncharacteristic 24 turnovers, the Lady Roadrunners fell behind early
and stayed there, losing 81-64 to the Lady Dragons in Paris.
Desiree Waller scored 18 points to lead the Lady ‘Runners (12-7, 6-3),
but just five of those came in a tough first half that saw AC trail by
double digits for the better part of 20 minutes. No other Lady
Roadrunner reached double figures in the game; Jamelle Clark and
Cassandra Johnson were behind Waller with 9 points each.
Paris’ Kristin Ford pounded the post to the tune of 28 points and
eight rebounds. Lady Dragon Janae Lacour swiped eight steals – Paris
finished with 14 swipes – to lead a defensive effort that never
allowed AC to find an offensive rhythm.
A slow start proved ominous for the Lady ‘Runner effort: AC shot just
21 percent (7-of-32) from the field in the first half, missing five
free throws and throwing the ball away 12 times, with several of those
unforced errors. Meanwhile, Paris controlled the tempo on both ends of
the floor, with Lacour swiping six steals in the first half alone.
Lady Dragon Donna Lavea tallied five points and seven rebounds before
the break, and Paris led 38-24 at that point.
After falling behind by 17 in the opening moments of the second half,
the Lady Roadrunners finally appeared as if ready to make a late move.
Cutting the margin to 9 points after a Waller bucket with 4:26 to
play, AC then suffered another rash of turnovers, losing the ball five
times in the final moments to kill their rally attempt.
The Lady ‘Runners finish the first half of Region XIV play with a 6-3
record. They’ll host Trinity Valley Wednesday night in Lufkin, with
game time set for 5:30 p.m.
