Devils, Prickett stay red-hot at home with win over Rams

FLATWOODS — "I said, "Tell me your name, is it sweet?" He said, "My boy, it's Jagger", oh yeah"

While that might not be the actual lyrics to a song sung by The Fratelli's, Jagger Prickett and the Russell Red Devils sure were singing a tune on Friday night as a huge second quarter propelled Russell to an 83-57 win over the Raceland Rams in a key 64th district match up.

Russell had four players finish in double figures with Prickett leading the way with 24 points, 8 assists and 2 rebounds. Ryder Burgess hit five 3-pointers to finish with 19 and 3 steals. Tyler Cordial went for 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Gabe Pridemore finished with 10 points and 2 assists.

Russell coach Derek Cooksey felt the team's patience and not forcing things on offense played a huge factor in the dominating performance.

"Offensively, I thought we were patient. We got some stuff off transition, but when it wasn't there, we were able to pull it out and find the mismatch. And Jagger realized he had a mismatch on a lot of ball screens and he basically was able to break the defense down and honor him, which opened things up for everyone."

The win gives the Red Devils a 13-3 record overall, 3-0 in the district and 8-1 in the 16th Region. Raceland falls to 11-5 for the season and are also 1-1 in district play and 5-3 in the region.

Raceland displayed some offensive firepower early on with Jacob Waller converting a spinning layup on a fast break and Jonah Arnett pulled up from way above the top of the key for a trey to cut Russell's lead to 9-7 at the 4:45 mark of the quarter.

But from that point, the Red Devils would begin to heat up with Prickett leading the charge.

Prickett would score 7-straight in a sequence that saw the sophomore pull up with a mid range jumper in transition. Then Pridemore would poke the ball loose on the press and Prickett would pick the ball up and drive for a layup.

Finally, Prickett would drill a 3-pointer to push the lead out to eight.

Russell would take complete control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Rams 32-10.

Prickett would score 11 during the frame, Burgess would have 8 with two shots coming from downtown, and Benge hitting twice from the 3-point line.

The Red Devils finished the half red hot by closing out the final 4 minutes of the half with a 18-6 run to widen their lead even more.

The run got started on the defensive end with a blocked shot by Taylor White and Burgess stealing the ball after a Raceland rebound. Burgess transitioned to the other end and pulled up from nearly 25-feet and drained a 3-pointer.

Russell hit three more treys during the scoring barrage with Benge hitting from nearly the same spot as Burgess. Then Prickett took a handoff up top from Benge and nailed another from downtown from the top of the key. Burgess later nailed another from the opposite wing.

Then Prickett ended the run with some flair with a drive down the lane and made a no-look pass around two defenders to Cordial for the lay-in as time expired to send Russell into the locker room up 52-22.

Russell's defense was instrumental in helping with the offensive production, forcing 12 turnovers and keeping the Rams off the offensive glass with just 7 boards for the game.

"I'm really happy. Since the new year, we've challenged them and I've told them you can never get too satisfied on the defensive end," said Cooksey. "I thought our defense helped get us acclimated in the first and we got some stops and transitioned off it."

The scoring would even out in the second half, with Raceland outscoring the Red Devils 17-16 and 18-15 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

The Rams were led offensively by Arnett with 17 points and a pair of steals, Eli Caines had 10 points, 4 boards and 2 assists, and Eli Evans had a good showing off the bench with 8 points, 5 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.

Now with a big win over one of the top teams in the 64th District and 16th Region, Cooksey said he was to make sure this team keeps its focus on one game at a time.

"I think we're in one of the toughest districts on this end. The other three teams are tough opponents and well coached. So our team has to continue to not get satisfied and continue to take that one game approach."

Greenup Co 12 10 17 18 = 57

Russell  20 32 16 15 = 83

RACELAND (11-5, 1-1): Reece Hicks 1 1 1-2 6, Eli Caines 1 2 2-5 10, Eli Evans 4 0 0-0 8, Jacob Waller 2 1 0-0 7, Jonah Arnett 2 3 4-4 17, Josiah Large 0 0 0-0 0, Eli Branham 1 0 0-0 2, Brody Bradshaw 0 0 0-0 0, Gage Douglas 0 1 0-0 3, Charles Welch 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 13 8 7-11 57. Rebounds: (O-7, D-13) 20 (Evans 5, Welch 5, Caines 4). Assists: 2 (Caines 2). Steals: 5 (Waller 2, Arnett 2). Blocks: 3 (Evans 2, Welch). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 4. Fouled out: None.

RUSSELL (13-3, 3-0): Gabe Pridemore 2 2 0-0 10, Jagger Prickett 9 2 0-0 24, Ryder Burgess 1 5 2-2 19, Ashton Daniels 0 0 0-0 0, Kaiden Benge 1 2 0-0 8, Corbin McGrath 0 1 0-0 3, Issac Craft 1 1 0-0 5, Taylor White 0 0 0-0 0, Shae Burnham 1 0 0-0 2, Tyler Cordial 6 0 0-2 12. Totals: 21 13 2-4 83. Rebounds: (O-7, D-12) 19 (Cordial 8, Prickett 2). Assists: 14 (Prickett 8, Pridemore 2, Burgess 2, Benge 2). Steals: 13 (Benge 4, Burgess 3, Cordial 3). Blocks: 4 (Cordial 2, Prickett, White). Turnovers: 6. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.