Lady Devils comeback falls just short to Holy Cross

FLATWOODS — Despite a furious scoring run in the second half, the Holy Cross Lady Indians were able to make their shots fall at the right time and secure a 53-44 win over the Russell Lady Red Devils on Friday night at Marvin Meredith Gymnasium.

During the first half, Russell just couldn't get their shots to go through the cylinder, as they hit just three shots from the field, a 3-pointer from Lily Ervin and baskets from Kenley Kouns and Kamryn Fleming.

And to make matters worse, the Lady Indians were able to get pressure in the back court and force Russell into 9 turnovers and get scores in transition to help build up a lead throughout the first half

Holy Cross was able to push their lead to its largest of the game during the second frame when Riley Eberhard split two defenders on a drive for a layup to give the Lady Indians a 24-9 lead with 4:10 remaining in the second stanza.

The Lady Devils suffered a scoring drought over a 4 minute stretch of the second as the Lady Indians built their lead up. Russell would finally break up the drought when Fleming grabbed an offensive board and scored with an underhanded shot with 2:45 remaining before halftime.

At the break, Russell trailed 27-13.

In the third, Holy Cross would take its largest lead of the second half when Jai Johnson buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Lady Indians a 32-19 lead at the 5:40 mark of the third.

But the Lady Devils would began to climb back into the game, finding success attacking the rim and got some scores off their transition play.

For nearly the next 8 minutes, the Lady Devils would make their run to get back in the game by outscoring Holy Cross 17-8.

During that run, Kennedy Darnell — who had trouble getting shots to fall all night — would make contributions in other ways, by going 5-of-6 from the foul line and coming up with a pair of steals during the third.

A key play during the third came when Fleming pulled in a rebound and pushed the ball up the floor before dishing off to Gabby Oborne for a layup, cutting the deficit to 32-24 with 3:18 remaining in the third.

Later the period, Oborne would laser a pass to Darnell down in the post and Darnell nailed a turnaround jumper to cut the score down even further to 37-31 to end the third.

In the final period, the Lady Devils would get it down to 40-36 when Kouns came up with an offensive board off a missed shot and scored on a put back with a pair of defenders around her.

Russell got it down to a one-score game after Oborne found Fleming on a cut underneath for the lay-in and cut the Holy Cross lead down to 3 with 3:25 remaining.

However, Sturgeon would sink a 3-pointer from the corner on the ensuing possession, then Johnson came up with a steal and layup to push their lead back out to 48-40 and eventually thwart any comeback attempt the rest of the way.

The Lady Devils were paced by Darnell with 13 points and 7 rebounds, Kouns netted 10 points and 5 rebounds, and Oborne finished with 9 points.

Johnson led all scorers with 20 points, 3 assists and 2 steals and Alyssa Arlinghaus finished with 11 points, 6 boards and 6 steals to lead Holy Cross.

Russell will be back at home on Monday against Bath County.

Holy Cross 12   15   10   16  =  53

Russell 7  6   18   13  =  44

HOLY CROSS (9-2): Jai Johnson 4 3 3-4 20, Alyssa Arlinghaus 4 1 0-0 11, Avery Sturgeon 0 2 0-0 6, Paige Arlinghaus 2 1 0-2 7, Riley Eberhard 2 0 1-2 5, Jenna Pennington 0 1 0-0 3, Kaelyn Bowens 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 12 8 5-10 53. Rebounds: (O-12, D-21) 33. (A. Arlinghaus 6, Eberhard 6, P. Arlinghaus 5). Assists: 6 (Johnson 3, Eberhard 2). Steals: 10 (A. Arlinghaus 6, Johnson 2). Blocks: 2 (A. Arlinghaus, P. Arlinghaus). Fouls 17. Fouled out: Eberhard (4th, 1:27).

RUSSELL (8-3): Lily Ervin 1 1 2-4 7, Kennedy Darnell 1 0 11-12 13, Gabby Oborne 2 1 2-2 9, Myla Troxler 0 0 0-0 0, Mila Wheeler 0 0 0-0 0, Kenley Kouns 4 0 2-2 10, Kamryn Fleming 2 0 1-2 5. Totals: 10 2 18-24 44. Rebounds: (O-13, D-14) 27. (Darnell 7, Kouns 5, Ervin 4, Fleming 4). Assists: 3 (Darnell, Oborne, Kouns). Steals: 8 (Ervin 3, Darnell 2). Blocks: 5 (Fleming 3). Fouls 12. Fouled out: None.