Tuell's big offensive night lifts Lady Rams into district finals

FLATWOODS — Backed by a solid defensive game plan and a prolific shooting night from Braylee Tuell, the Raceland Lady Rams took care of business and beat the Greenup County Lady Musketeers 63-51 in the 63rd District Semifinal game on Monday night at Russell High School.

Raceland's defense controlled one end of the floor as they limited Greenup to just 8 offensive rebounds and forced 16 turnovers. The pressure in the back court paid off as the Lady Rams generated 10 steals with Sophia and Nim Maynard leading with 4 steals each.

"Living off the defense was on the board for us. Pressuring their guards into poor positions and getting early established positions on their post players," said Raceland coach Marty Thomas. "When we made our runs, it was our defense that was making those runs."

On the other end, Tuell provided the offensive spark needed with 23 points - including six 3-point goals. Senior standout Nim Maynard finished with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

"To put two players on one player and expect three girls to guard four, I'll take that every night," said Thomas. "Braylee should be bragged on to no end tonight. She shot the ball really well on offense tonight."

Tuell caught fire in the first quarter with 14 points - four of those being treys - to give Raceland the early momentum.

The Lady Musketeers kept the game in check for much of the first quarter.

When Maddy Steele sank a pair of free throws with 1:18 to play, Greenup had cut the Raceland lead to 16-15.

But on the ensuing possession, Nim Mayard would toss over to a wide open Tuell for another triple to put Raceland back out by four and start to tilt the court in favor of the Lady Rams.

Thornburg would score on a dribble drive. Then the 7th grader came up with a steal on the inbound and dish to Aubrey Terry for two more to give the Lady Rams a 23-16 lead and plenty of momentum.

Raceland (17-12) continued to extend its lead in the second, with Sophia Maynard and Aubrey Terry scoring 4 apiece to lead the Lady Rams offensively.

Sydney Childers' first shot of the game gave Raceland its largest lead at that point with a trey from the top of the key to make the score 37-24 with just over a minute remaining in the half.

In the third, the Lady Musketeers (8-18) would make their best push of the night in the final 3 minutes with a 9-1 run to pull within 46-39.

Dharia Crum and Addi Branim contributed with layups during the scoring run. Then Steele sank a pair of free throws and Tenley Melvin scored with a euro step drive.

Steele completed the run with a run out layup in the final seconds.

Greenup would get as close as 48-41 with just under 6 minutes to play on Eva Wireman's put back off a missed shot.

But again Tuell would bomb another shot from in front of the Raceland bench to put her team back ahead by double digits.

Then Nim Maynard would make her presence felt in the final frame with a rebound on Greenup's next possession and then hit a mid-range jumper on the other end to extend the lead further.

Greenup was able to keep Maynard in check for much of the night. However, the senior guard played a key role in finishing the game off by going 4-of-4 from the foul line, getting a pair of steals and an assist.

Thomas was exceptionally pleased with the team taking another step forward by clinching their third-straight appearance in the regional tournament, which is something that had never been done until Monday.

"We're excited for Thursday. We're also excited about going to Morehead and clinching that trip," said Thomas. "I don't know if the Lady Ram program has ever been three times in a row. We established in our program that our expectation is to finish in Morehead and couldn't be more proud."

Raceland will face Russell in the district finals on Thursday night with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 P.M.

Greenup Co. 16 8 15 12 = 51

Raceland 23 14 17 17 = 63

GREENUP COUNTY (8-18): Leah Langley 0 0 0-0 0, Dharia Crum 4 1 1-2 12, Eva Wireman 2 0 4-5 8, Maddy Steele 4 0 6-8 14, Tenley Melvin 3 1 6-7 15, Addison Branim 1 0 0-0 2, Heidi Felty 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 2 17-22 51. Rebounds: 30 (Steele 8, Melvin 7, Wireman 7). Assits: 2. Steals: 4 (Crum 2). Blocks: 3( Branim 2, Melvin). Turnovers: 21. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.

RACELAND (17-12): Sophia Maynard 2 0 2-2 6, Braylee Truell 1 6 3-6 3-6 23, Annie Lyon 0 0 0-0 0, Sydney Chambers 1 1 1-4 6, Nim Maynard 2 0 4-4 8, Karsyn Caudill 0 0 0-0 0, Addison Thornburg 2 2 2-2 12, Aubrey Terry 4 0 0-0 8, Nessa Wright 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 9 12-18 63. Rebounds: 29 (N. Maynard 6, Lyon 6, S. Maynard 5). Assists: 9 (N. Maynard 5, Thornburg 3). Steals: 10 (S. Maynard 4, N. Maynard 4, Thornburg 2). Blocks: 8 (Lyon 8). Fouls 12. Fouled out: None.