Another busy week with Angelina College Athletics, with four of our teams in action both at home and on the road. In addition, one of our Lady Roadrunners earned a big conference honor for her recent play.
Following is a recap of the week, along with the coming week’s schedules.
Lady Roadrunner Basketball
Byron Coleman’s Lady Roadrunner basketball team is on a roll, having won four straight games in conference play by an average winning margin of 18.5 points per game. AC on Wednesday blasted Coastal Bend Community College on the road, taking the 93-68 win over the Cougars. Amyria Walker and Marie Kenembeni scored 20 points each to lead the Lady ‘Runners, with Kenembeni adding 11 rebounds to finish with the double-double. India McMahon and Alecia Rivera-Scott pitched in with 10 points each.
On Saturday, AC’s ladies handled the Panola College Fillies in a 77-60 win at Shands Gymnasium. Kenembeni led the way with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Walker and Janay Quinn added 15 points each.
The wins this week moved the Lady Roadrunners to 15-7, 7-1 record – good enough for first place in Region XIV. AC gets Wednesday night off before traveling to Kilgore College on Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
Roadrunner Basketball
The AC men won big at Lamar State College-Port Arthur on Wednesday, beating the Seahawks 94-77 in Port Arthur. Xavier Owens led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points, followed by Patrick Johnson with 17 points, Eddie Evans with 14 points and Morgan Baldwin with 12 points.
The ‘Runners’ four-game win streak ended on Saturday, however, with an 84-66 win to a strong Blinn College team. AC’s Evans led the team with 14 points, while Cade Holzman and Nehikare Igiehon scored 11 points each.
Despite the loss, the Roadrunners are still in third place in Region XIV’s South Zone at 15-7, 6-5. AC will travel to Beeville on Wednesday to take on Coastal Bend CC at 7:30 before returning on Saturday for a home matchup against Victoria College starting at 4 p.m.
Roadrunner Baseball
Following AC’s doubleheader sweep of the Galveston Whitecaps this past Sunday, the Roadrunners hit the island in Galveston to take on the same Whitecaps in yet another twin bill.
Game 1, originally scheduled for seven innings, turned into a four-hour, 12-inning marathon, with the ‘Caps walking it off in the bottom of the 12th for the 5-4 walk-off win. AC’s Hayden Hupe homered in the loss, with Spencer Alexander, Dalton Mullins and Sam Hardcastle also driving in runs. AC would drop the nightcap in equally heartbreaking fashion, losing by a 2-1 final score.
The team next plays on Saturday at Temple College in a doubleheader scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.
Lady Roadrunner Softball
AC softball head coach Brette Kohring said at the beginning of the season that her young team – 16 freshmen and just three sophomores – was going to experience a learning curve, with those newcomers needing time to adjust to speed of the game at this level.
And while the Lady ‘Runners may be learning on the fly, they’re showing they’re willing to battle it out with good teams.
AC opened its 2024 season with a doubleheader at Tyler Junior College against a talented Lady Apache team. AC fell 13-0 in the opener, but showed fight in the nightcap, hanging tough before falling by a 7-2 final.
The Lady ‘Runners then hit the road to Youngsville, LA for Thursday’s and Friday’s Mardi Gras Invitational, where the team would play four games in two days. After coming up just short to Mississippi Gulf Coast CC in a 6-5 loss – on a three-run walk-off homer, no less – AC dropped a 7-2 decision to Southwest Mississippi Community College.
But on Friday, the Lady Roadrunners posted their first win of the season, getting two homers and four RBI from Skyler Martin to take down Hinds CC by a 10-8 score. AC finished the Invitational with 6-0 loss to Pearl River CC.
AC’s ladies will host their home opener on Monday, facing Kilgore College in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. at Lady Roadrunner Field.
Lady ‘Runner Basketball’s Amyria Walker Conference Player of the Week
Amyria Walker of the Lady Roadrunner basketball team this week earned Region XIV Player of the Week honors after yet another big week for the sophomore from Burleson, Texas.
Walker averaged 20 points, five rebounds and six assists in games against Tyler Junior College (a 72-57 AC win) and at Paris College, a 76-58 win for the Lady Roadrunners.
Walker all season has alternated between the No. 1 and No. 2 spot among Region XIV scoring leaders; she currently is averaging 19.9 points per game, which includes hitting 30.1 percent of her three-point tries and a 70 percent rate from the free-throw line.
With the conference honor, Walker has been submitted for national recognition as well.
Little Lakers Showing up Big
An area youth basketball team, the Little Lakers, has been showing up to AC hoops games, and not only are they adorable, they’re LOUD. A big thank you to the team’s parents and coaches for bringing those little guys and gals along to cheer on our Lady Roadrunners and Roadrunners.
TSBN Live Streaming
As mentioned before, TSBN Sports now handles all our Angelina College Athletics streaming needs. The TSBN crew will stream nearly all our home games in every sport, and because of their wide reach throughout our conference, AC fans will be able to catch several road games as well.
In addition, TSBN Sports offers an app for downloading. That way, one can watch the games on computers, cell phones and other devices, as well as on a smart TV.
Finally, fans can log onto the Angelina College Athletics web site (www.angelinaathletics.com) and view the scrolling schedule on the right-hand side of the page. If TSBN is streaming a game, there’ll be a blue “Video” link underneath the day’s game.
WARNING: Every time we post anything on our Facebook pages, the scammers come out of the woodwork like cockroaches, posting fake links in the “Comments” sections. We try to catch, block and delete those as they pop up, but just remember that any time we know we’re going to have live streaming in a game, we’ll mention it in the original post. Anything added below the post is a scam.
This Week’s Schedule:
Lady Roadrunner Softball:
Monday, Feb. 5: AC vs. Kilgore, DH (doubleheader) starting at 1 p.m., Lady Roadrunner Field on the AC campus.
Wednesday, Feb. 7: AC at Bossier Parish CC, DH starting at 1 p.m. in Bossier City.
Saturday, Feb. 10: at the McLennan Tournament at Waco, TX. AC vs. Crowder College, 12:30 p.m.; AC vs. Tyler JC, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 11: AC at McLennan College, DH starting at 12 p.m. in Waco.
Roadrunner Baseball:
Saturday, Feb. 10: AC at Temple College, DH starting at 1 p.m. in Temple.
Roadrunner Basketball:
Wednesday, Feb. 7: AC at Coastal Bend CC in Beeville, tipoff at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 10: AC vs. Victoria College, 4 p.m. at Shands Gymnasium
Lady Roadrunner Basketball:
Saturday, Feb. 10: AC at Kilgore College, 2 p.m. in Kilgore.
Photo credits:
Men’s basketball photos: Maria Andrade
All other photos: Gary Stallard
