Rangers rankedl; Lady Rangers host scrimmage tonight
Oct. 20—It appears the coaches in the Region XIV Conference aren't the only ones high on Kilgore College's men's basketball team as the 2021-22 season gets ready to tip off.
And the Lady Rangers? They're home tonight, for a preseason scrimmage.
KC's men, coached by Brian Hoberecht, is ranked ninth in the nation in the NJCAA's preseason poll.
Last week, during media day, the Rangers were the choice of the coaches in the RXIV to win the regular season championship. As mentioned in the News Herald's weekend edition, Hoberecht's Rangers won the conference's tournament last year, and went 18-6, reaching the national tournament for the second time in Hoberecht's tenure. KC got eight of the 10 conference coaches' votes as the conference favorite.
As for the national poll, it's a top-25, and only one other RXIV team is in it: Navarro, at 17.
Salt Lake (Utah) tops the poll, followed by Indian Hills at number two, then Florida Southwestern State, South Plains, Mineral Area, John A. Logan College, Coffeyville (Kan.), Shelton State (Alabama), then KC, and Dodge City (Kan.) at 10. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO), a conference rival of KC in football, is ranked at 16, but isn't in the Rangers' conference for basketball.
KC is playing a handful of scrimmages: the next one is at Duncanville, in a jamboree, on Monday at 2:30.
The Rangers begin their '21-22 season at home against the club-team Texas Gladiators on Tuesday, Nov. 2, a 6 p.m. tip-off here at Masters Gymnasium. Then, they'll play in the Tip-Off Classic in Edmond, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 7 and Monday, Nov. 8, taking on Missouri State-West Plains on Nov. 7, then NOC-Enid on Nov. 8.
See the Rangers' complete schedule — and the Lady Rangers' schedule, as well — on the college's website, kilgore.edu, and follow the athletics links to basketball, men's or women's.
In the weekend story, written by Jack Stallard, it's noted that the Rangers bring back five players from last year's national tournament team: player's from last year's squad in 6-2 guard Dantwan Grimes (Ocala, Fla.), 6-8 forward Da'Sean Nelson (Toledo, Ohio), 6-5 guard Malik Grant (Canada), 6-7 guard/forward Duane Posey (Memphis, Tenn.) and 6-8 guard Paul Otieno (Kenya).
Filling out KC's roster are 6-3 guard Tobias Roland (Oklahoma City, Okla.), 6-1 guard Isaac Hoberecht (Kilgore), 6-0 guard DaVeon Thomas, 6-3 guard Keshawn Williams (Pflugerville), 6-8 forward/post Obi Ezekewesli (Houston), 7-1 post Mamadou Gueye (Senegal), and 6-4 guard Mason Taylor (Kansas City, Mo.).
The Lady Rangers aren't ranked, but rival Tyler Junior College is ranked number two in the nation.
As mentioned, coach Addie Lees' Lady Rangers are home for a scrimmage tonight, a 5:30 p.m. start against Texas College. They'll open the season at home, as well, on Wednesday, Nov. 3 against Eastern Oklahoma State, also at 5:30.
The conference coaches, for what it's worth, picked the Lady Rangers to finish sixth in the conference's regular season at media day, picking longtime conference power Trinity Valley (currently ranked number 11 in the NJCAA's national ladies poll) to win the conference championship.
The Lady Rangers went 10-13 last season, falling in the first round of the conference tournament to Panola.
Returning players are 5-8 guard Rahmena Henderson (Neptune, N.J.), 5-8 guard/forward Mckenze Brown (Longview), 5-5 guard Vianey Galvan (League City), 6-3 forward/post Tara Green (West Helena, Ark.), 5-10 guard/forward Maya Scheitel-Taylor (Worthington, Minn.), 5-9 guard Kerrighan Dunn (Texarkana) and 5-6 guard Jada Hood (Roseville, Minn.). Tara Kessner, a 6-2 guard from Houston, took last year off, Stallard notes, but is back.
Also on the roster are 5-7 guard Naomi Shorts (Clayton, N.J.), 5-8 guard Melissa Girondin (France), 5-4 guard Alexis Calderon (Chapel Hill), 5-5 guard Aaliyah Hill (Miami, Fla.), 6-1 forward/post Kelci Wilson (Longview) and 6-0 post De'Asia Thomas (Tulsa, Okla.).
