By Ted Waddell
LOCH SHELDRAKE — December 11, 2007 — Basketball is like NASCAR in one respect.
In order to make it to the checkered flag, you’ve got to have enough gas.
In Thursday night’s National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XV basketball game between the visiting Orange Community College (OCC) Lady Colts and the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) Lady Generals, the visitors were expected to dominate the home team from the opening tip-off.
But as the first half unfolded, the Lady Generals gave their opponents a run for the money. SCCC held a one-point lead at one juncture and tied the score at 20-20 for several seconds.
As the half ended, however, OCCC (4-3, 3-0 Region XV) started to outpace the home team on the way to taking a 37-31 lead into the locker room.
The second half was all OCC, as the Lady Generals began to run out of fuel and the Lady Colts put the pedal to the metal to record a 81–54 victory.
Up in the bleachers, SCCC (3-7, 3-4 OCIAA) was cheered on by members the Generals’ baseball team. Baseball team Coach Mike Marra pulled duty as the game’s announcer and disc jockey.
SCCC’s Victoria Carter had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. She also had four assists.
LaShaun Malcolm scored a team-high 19 points for the Lady Generals to go along with seven rebounds, six assists and four steals.
SCCC’s Imanei Cedeno hit a trio of 3-point shots and finished the evening with 13 points. She also dished out six assists and made three steals.
Four Lady Colts scored in double figures: Kelly Vaughan (24 points), Chrissy Roda (16 points), Jennifer Stefanowicz (14 points) and Carlie Moore (10 points).
Neither team shot very well at the free-throw line. SCCC was just 6-for-16 (38 percent), while OCC converted 4-of-8 (50 percent).
“We started off very sluggish, and had to play much better in the second half,” OCC Coach Peggy Roda said.
“Sullivan has three legitimate players,” she added, naming Carter, Cedeno and Malcolm as the Lady Generals whom opponents really need to watch out for.
“They can hurt you any time if you let them see the open floor,” Roda said. “They started getting hot, dropping in a bunch of threes.”
She credited the play of Chelsea Gallagher and the hot hands of Moore with leading the Lady Colts to victory.
SCCC Coach Paul Clune said he thought that his team played well against OCC, an NJCAA Division II scholarship team, in the first half.
“It was a huge accomplishment to be able to step it up for a while… it was like our guys’ [team] going up against [the University of] North Carolina,” Clune said.