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Lady Raiders drop close one |
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Written by Greg Bird
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Friday, 11 December 2009 |
In a low scoring but physical contest Tuesday night, the McCreary Central Lady Raiders put together another comeback, only to fall short of earning their first win of the young season in a 40-36 loss to Russell County.
McCreary grabbed the lead halfway through the second period and held off a determined Russell County squad until the Lakers’ Kim Pierce drained a three-point shot with 5:20 left in the game to take a 31-30 lead.
Russell County expanded their lead to 4 after a LeeAnn Grider trey a minute later, but the Lady Raiders’ Keisha Gibson answered with a three-pointer of her own on the next trip down the floor to pull back to within one.
The Lady Raiders kept the Lakers from scoring on the floor for the rest of the game, but Russell County hit six free throws down the stretch to keep McCreary at arms length.
Grider’s two free throws with 22 seconds left gave the Lakers a 38-33 lead, but Holly Stephens drained her third trey of the night with 6 seconds on the clock to pull back to within two points.
McCreary was forced to foul in the final seconds in an attempt for a final shot, but Russell County’s Grider hit a pair of free throws with 1 second left to put the game out of reach, 40-36.
Despite opening the season 0-2, Lady Raiders Coach Joe Waters said he was proud of the performance in both games.
“We’re going to be alright,” Waters said after the game. “We got out executed in the second half, and we are not conditioned mentally to where we need to be yet, but we are getting there.
Holly Stephens led McCreary with 10 points, Chelsea Smith finished with 9, Kayla Morgan finished with 6, Candance Foster finished with 4, Keish Gibson finished with 3, and Bradley Stephens and Roxy Watters finished with 2 each.
The Lady Raiders are back in action Saturday when they host the Southern Kentucky Shootout at McCreary Central. The action starts at 1:45 when Southwestern plays Pineville. At 3:45 Shelby Valley will play Williamsburg, and Wayne County takes on Green County at 5:15. The Lady Raiders headline the event with a 7:30 tip off against Adair County.
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