Lady Devils rifle in 13 three-pointers to cruise to district title game

FLATWOODS — Backed by an offense that knocked down thirteen 3-point goals and relentless defensive effort, the Russell Lady Devils began their postseason run with a convincing 70-19 win over the Lewis County Lady Lions in the 63rd District semifinals at Marvin Meredith Gymnasium.

"They knew the importance of this first game, elimination game," said Russell coach Mandy Layne. "We hit some early shots and that helped us."

The Lady Devils were led by the senior duo of Kennedy Darnell and Gabby Oborne who both scored 20 points each. The two did most of the damage behind the arc, with Oborne hitting 6 shots from downtown and Darnell made 4.

"Well, I haven't been hitting a lot lately here recently. So I've been working a lot on my form and my shot and I just got it going early and felt it good," said Oborne.

Russell (22-7) didn't take long to start hitting from long range, as Darnell hit a trey in front of the Lady Lions' bench on the opening possession. Then Oborne launched a shot from near the volleyball line to give the Lady Devils a quick 6-0 lead.

Following a pair of free throws from Kahlee Stamper to cut the lead to two, Russell delivered the knockout blow with a 16-0 run to take control.

The defense highlighted the run with Oborne getting a steal and throwing ahead to Lily Ervin for a score. Then Ervin came up with a steal of her own and took it in for two more points.

Oborne finished the run with a steal and dish to Darnell to make the score 22-4 with 3:20 remaining in the opening frame.

The Lady Devils would get a 3-pointer from Oborne and Kenley Kouns to finish out the quarter to lead 28-6 and never looked back.

Aside from having a huge scoring night, Darnell was glad to see the team set the tone early and put their opponent away early.

"It was super important to just set the tone, especially for the next couple games. We're going to need to have that," said Darnell. "And in these kind of games you want to set the tone early because you don't want anything to happen, especially in tournament time."

While the game turned lopsided, the Lady Devils did get some valuable minutes for their bench players.

All told, six different players from the bench made scoring contributions, including 3-pointers from Blaklie Fielden and Karson Hale round out the team's 13 shots from long range.

Defensively, Prezley Price tallied a pair of steals in the fourth.

Layne was pleased with the overall effort from the backups.

"We have kids that could start at every other school in the region. Our JV went undefeated and hopefully next year they'll be able to step into these roles immediately."

Lewis County (7-22) was led on the stat sheet by Stamper with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a pair of steals.

The Lady Devils will be making their 14th straight appearance in the district championship where they will play the Raceland Lady Rams on Thursday night at Russell. The win also guarantees a trip to Morehead State for the regional tournament.

"It's definitely exciting. If we win, it will be our 11th year in a row. I've been here for 5 of them. So it's kinda exciting and it'll be a big game Thursday," said Oborne.

Lewis Co. 6 6 4 3 = 19

Russell 28 20 13 9 = 70

LEWIS COUNTY (7-22): Kiya Noble 0 0 0-0 0, Reagan Lykins 0 0 0-0 0, Khalee Stamper 1 0 6-6 8, Natalee Gilbert 1 0 1-3 3, Mya Lawhun 0 0 0-0 0, Kaylyn Speer 0 0 0-0 0, Emma Underwood, 1 0 0-0 2, Samantha Arnold 0 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Kayson Crawford 0 0 0-0 0, Sarah Kennedy 0 0 0-0 0, A'Jai Russell 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 6 0 7-13 19. Rebounds: 21 (Stamper 5, Gilbert 4). Assists: 2 (Stamper 2). Steals: 4 (Stamper 2). Blocks: 1 (Gilbert), Turnovers: 19. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None

RUSSELL (22-7): Lilly Ervin 3 0 0-1 6, Kennedy Darnell 2 4 4-4 20, Gabby Oborne 1 6 0-0 20, Myla Troxler 0-0 0-0 0, Kenley Kouns 0 1 4-4 7, Mila Wheeler 1 0 1-3 3, Prezley Price 1 0 0-2 2, Blaklie Fielden 0-0 0-0 0, Karson Hale 0 1 0-0 3, Kamryn Fleming 1 0 2-2 4, Ryleigh Moye 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 13 11-16 70. Rebounds: 22 (Darnell 5, Ervin 4). Assists: 7 (Darnell 4, Ervin 2). Steals: 14 (Price 3, Darnell 2, Kouns 2, Fleming 2). Blocks: 3 (Oborne, Fleming, Moye). Turnovers: 5. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None