Lady Devils turn up pressure to turn back Lady Musketeers

FLATWOODS — Under Pressure.

No, we’re not talking about the joint venture song by Queen and David Bowie. This time we’re talking about the Russell Lady Red Devils’ defense.

Russell used its pressure defense to force 21 turnovers and key a 53-33 district win over the Greenup County Lady Musketeers on Wednesday.

With only one practice in the past week, Russell’s offense was stagnant but the defense was still relentless as the Lady Red Devils battled the upset-minded Lady Musketeers.

The game started slowly with little scoring. Lilly Ervin hit a 3-pointer to give Russell the lead but two free throws by Dharia Crum and a layup by Addison Branim gave the Lady Musketeers the lead at the 4:18 mark.

Leah Langley hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 7-3 at the 2:15 mark. Russell’s Gabby Oborne’s free throw at the 1:29 mark made it a 7-4 game to close out the scoring in the quarter.

Crum put Greenup ahead 11-7 in the second quarter but Erwin hit a long 3-pointer and Kenley Kouns putback at the 4:46 mark gave Russell the lead for good at 12-11.

Crum went 3 of 4 at the foul line to get Greenup within 19-18 with 37 seconds left in the half, but Ervin drained a trifecta with 3 seconds to go and Russell led 22-18 at the break.

The Lady Red Devils went on an 8-2 run to begin the second half and go up 30-20. Oborne hit a 3-pointer and Kouns had a layup as the lead grew to 37-22.

Melvin’s layup with 1:23 on the clock got Greenup within 39-27 to end the quarter.

A putback by Darnell opened up a 42-29 lead with 4:05 left to play and Kouns layup pushed the lead to 46-29 and sealed the outcome.

Kouns had a game-high 17 points to go with 8 rebounds as Russell improved to 16-5 overall and 3-0 in the district. Darnell had 12 points with Oborne and Ervin getting 11 points each. Ervin also had 8 rebounds.

Greenup — 7-12 overall and 1-2 in the district — was led by Crum and  Melvin with 11 points each. Steele had 8 rebounds with Melvin and Evan Wireman pulling down 7 each.

Greenup Co. 7 11 9 6 = 33

Russell  4 18 17 14 = 53

GREENUP COUNTY (7-12, 1-2): Leah Langley 0-4 1-3 0-0 3, Dharia Crum 3-4 0-2 5-9 11, Addison Branim 1-2 0-2 0-0 2, Maddy Steele 1-1 0-0 2-2 4, Tenley Melvin 4-6 0-1 3-4 11, Eva Wireman 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Heidi Felty 1-1 0-0 0-0 2. Totals: 11-27 10-15 33. 3-pt goals: 1-8. Rebounds: 30 (Steele 8, Melvin 7, Wireman 7). Turnovers: 21.

RUSSELL (16-5, 3-0): Lilly Ervin 1-5 3-7 11, Kennedy Darnell 6-10 0-3 0-1 12, Gabby Oborne 2-7 2-8 1-4 11, Kenley Kouns 6-14 3-5 17, Kamryn Fleming 1-4 0-0 0-0 2, Mila Wheeler 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Prezley Price 0-0 0-0 0, Myla Troxler 0-0 0-0 0, Blaklie Fieldon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-59 4-10 53. 3-pt goals: 7-24. Rebounds: 30 (Ervin 8, Kouns 8). Turnovers: 8.