By Larry McCarty
SDN Sports Editor
Western Texas College never panicked when it was down by 14 points early in the first half.
The Westerners finished the first half with a 34-13 run and held off Howard College 90-81 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference basketball opener at The Coliseum Saturday.
Howard College started the game on an 8-0 run and built a 22-8 lead after Garrick Garrett’s 3- pointer. Nigel Allen made two 3-pointers to help WTC cut the deficit to 25-21. WTC took the lead for good at 30-29 on Miles McDougal’s field goal.
The Westerners increased the lead to 42-35 by halftime.
“I noticed while watching film Howard usually got off to fast starts in games,” WTC head coach Andre Owens said. “I told the players if Howard started fast against us, we need to keep coming at them. The players showed a lot by coming back to win at home. The second group came into the game with the right mindset and put us back in the game.”
Allen was one of five WTC players in double figures with 17 points. Da’Rhon Mitchell had 16 points while Sergio El Darwich added 13 points. Isaiah Boissard scored 12 points and Demarcus Hartfield had 11 points.
“Mitchell came into the game and scored 16 points and had eight rebounds before fouling out,” Owens said. “Nigel was 9-of-9 at the free-throw line. We needed every one of those free throws.”
Owens said winning the conference opener helped his team’s confidence.
“All conference games are big and it was good to win the first one,” he said. “We need to protect the home court and then go and try to steal a few games on the road.”
The Westerners shot 58.3 percent from the field and WTC controlled the boards with a 37-22 rebounding edge.
Howard College remained in the game by making 16-of-35 3-pointers. Jeremy Hayes scored a game-high 26 points. Jake Hutchings came off the bench to score 15 points and Andre Ferguson added 10 points.
“We mixed up our defenses and tried to get them off guard,” Owens said. “We let them shoot too high of a percentage (45.7 percent) on 3-pointers. We need to defend the 3-pointer better. We also need to do a better job of protecting the ball.”
WTC (11-1, 1-0) will play at Ranger College in a non-conference game at 7 p.m. today.
“The players and I are ready for a break,” Owens said. “They will take finals for the remainder of the week, go home and come back for the second half of the season.”
Howard College scorers — Jeremy Hayes 26, Jake Hutchings 15, Andre Ferguson 10, Garrick Green 9, Jack Pagenkopf 7, Derrick Green 5, Amari McCray 3, Shawn Chandler 3, Ricquasil Smoot 3.
WTC scorers — Nigel Allen 17, Da’Rhon Mitchell 16, Sergio El Darwich 13, Isaiah Boissard 12, Demarcus Hatfield 11, Zac Saddler 9, Miles McDougal 5, James Edwards 3, Ja’Niro Lane 3, Jordon Fullerton 1.
WTC statistics — Miles McDougal 2 rebounds, 2 assists; Isaiah Boissard 5 rebounds, 1 assist; Zac Saddler 6 rebounds, 2 assist, 1 steal 1 blocked shot; Da’Rhon Mitchell 5 rebounds; Demarcus Hartfield 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot; James Edwards 1 rebound, 1 steal; Nigel Allen 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot; Ja’Niro Lane 2 assists, 2 steals; Sergio El Darwich 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.