Panola Ends Roadrunners’ Season a Game Short of Hutchinson Trip

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Angelina College’s Gary Blackston tries shooting over Panola’s Bryson Lockley (24) during Friday’s game. The Roadrunners’ season ended with an 82-65 loss to the Ponies in the Region XIV conference tournament semifinals in Jacksonville. (AC Press photo/Kaylee Parker)

The trip to Hutchinson, Kansas for the junior college national basketball championships was there for the taking, but the Angelina College Roadrunners simply ran out of gas before they could get on the bus.

Just one night after AC’s thrilling and emotional come-from-behind win over Trinity Valley, the ‘Runners couldn’t muster the same magic, falling to the Panola College Ponies 82-65 in the Region XIV men’s conference semifinals Friday night in Jacksonville.

In an emotionally charged game featuring eight technical fouls and several ejections, the Roadrunners, after taking a lead early in the second half, fell back from the pace as the Ponies reeled off a 20-3 run to take charge of the game.

Robert Lewis led the ‘Runners with 20 points; Corinthian Ramsey scored 13 and Isaiah Bailey 12 in those three sophomores’ final games with AC. Gary Blackston, Quenton Bush, Victor Bell and Kyndall Powell also played their final games as Roadrunners.

Panola’s Devyn Wilson led the Ponies with 20 points. Panola College will play San Jacinto College on Saturday to decide the tournament champion, with both teams having earned berths to the national tourney in Hutchinson.

The Roadrunners finish the season with a record of 22-11.

The e-mail address for AC’s Sports Information Director is gstallard@angelina.edu.

Gary Stallard
Sports Information Director Gary Stallard, who also serves as a Liberal Arts Instructor, begins his eleventh season with Angelina College. Following a career as a U.S. Marine, Stallard completed his bachelor’s degree at Stephen F. Austin University, where he majored in English and Journalism. For more than 16 years, he has worked as a sports writer/columnist/photographer for the Lufkin Daily News; he continues to contribute free-lance articles on occasion. Stallard has won several awards for writing, including the Golden Hoops Award for basketball writing in 2003, Regional Sports Writer of the Year in 2004, and the Texas Press Association’s first-place award for column writing in 2007 and in 2014. He has also done basketball, football and baseball radio and live streaming play-by- play and color commentary for an ESPN affiliate. Currently Stallard serves as play-by-play broadcaster for AC basketball, baseball and softball games. Prior to arriving at Angelina College, Stallard taught English at Lufkin High School for four years. He currently teaches Developmental Writing classes at AC. He and his wife Susan live in Lufkin.

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