RUSSELL SPRINGS—Russell County was very lackadaisical in a tough 45-27 loss at Barren County on Tuesday night, and Lady Laker coach Craig Pippen chalked up the loss to lack of energy and execution—stating that his team “didn’t show up Tuesday night”.
The Lady Lakers certainly showed up on Friday night in a home game against rival Adair County.
Russell County scored the first 10 points of the game, and the Lady Lakers returned to their true form by coasting to a 58-21 victory over the Lady Indians.
“We’ve talked a lot about (Barren County) this week,” Pippen said. “I told them the other day that those games are behind us. We can’t have anymore of them because the postseason is right around the corner. Tonight we played with passion, we played with energy, we played with urgency. We played good defense, we executed and when we do that we play well. It’s just that simple.”
The Lady Lakers (21-5) came out of the gates firing, especially on the defensive end. Russell County led 14-1 at the end of the first quarter, and the Lady Lakers held the Lady Indians without a field goal until Jadie Smith’s 3-pointer at the 4:12 mark of the second quarter.
“We were more active,” Pippen said of his team’s defensive performance. “We did a better job staying down and not jumping all over the place. We did a better job with our hands closing. Better job on blocking out and defending penetration—they weren’t able to get into the lane much. We just played with more energy, and when you do that you execute better defensively.”
Kyla Kessler tallied another trifecta for Adair County before the end of the half, but the Lady Indians trailed 30-7 at the break.
The Lady Indians (9-15) faced a 45-14 deficit going into the fourth quarter, and Russell County put the KHSAA-mandated running clock rule into effect early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Addison Loy.
Haley Southerland led Russell County in the win with 16 points and four steals while Jaylen Elmore added 10 points and six rebounds.
Loy and Lashaya Carman each poured in nine points, and the duo also grabbed six and eight rebounds, respectively.
Smith topped all Lady Indian scorers with eight points while Kessler added six. The Lady Indians will look to snap their four-game skid on the road at Bardstown on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile Russell County will travel to defending state champion Mercer County on Monday night.
“We need to play them and see where we’re at,” Pippen said. “Our team needs to be challenged. You’re going up against the best; it’s a good way to prepare for postseason. We’re going to go in that game to win that game. We’re going to have a good practice on Sunday, prepare for them, we got a good scouting report and we’re going to go up there and give it our best shot.”
