Red Shift

Scott is fouling now, Clark to go to the line. Misses the front end, rebound Scott.

Russell gets the Scott turnover with 1:30-ish left in the fourth. Russell calls a thirty leading 52-50.

K. Clark will be shooting 2, First, FT is no good, second goes through. 52-50 Russell leads.

The score is 51-50, and I think Russell will be getting free-throws after a Scott timeout.

2 and a half minutes, VanHoose drains the three. Russell gets a steal and I believe they were fouled with 2:20 to go.

Gill has been mum in the second half. I believe Lavender attempted the three and missed, out of bounds to Scott. Scott will get a one and the bonus after a foul by Gill. Miller hits the first, and the second. 50-48 Scott.

Foul on Casey Clark with 3:30 to go. One and one up and coming. First one is good, as is the second. 48 all.

Russell comes up with a steal, Russell will go to the line for two on the foul in transition. Clark misses the first, makes the second. Russell leads 48-46.

Rebound and a shot by Lavender of Russell, hits it, 47-46

Three ball for Scott. They lead 46-45

Hits the second and third free throw. Russell 45-43

Howard hits the bucket, 43-42. VanHoose goes to the line on the foul beyond the arc. VanHoose hits the first, timeout Scott.

It sounds like a technical foul on Russell coach Steve Dodd. Sharp goes 1 of 2.

Bucket by Howard and the foul, misses the shot, 40 all. Clark hits the lay-up, 42-40.

At the end of 3: Russell leads 40-38

2 shots for Scott after the foul by Lavender. hits one of 2, 40-38 Russell

VanHoose for Three, its good and a foul. The rare four point play is converted, Russell leads, 40-37.

Phelps at the line for two on VanHoose's 3rd foul. Misses the first; hits the second. 37-36 Scott

Must have missed 2 buckets - Russell scores in transition, 36-36

Sharp (sp?) for three, its good... 34-32, Scott

5:18 remains in the third quarter. Russell 31 Scott 30 VanHoose will be on the line for a chance to complete a three point play for Russell after a time-out for Scott. VanHoose hits it 32-30

Scott will have the ball to start the 2nd half.

Scott leads 30-24 at the half. Scoring: Scott: Howard 12 Miller 9 3 Others with 3 (I didn't catch all the names) Russell: Gill 9 VanHoose 8 K. Clark 5 Blair 2

We'll take any momentum we can get going into Friday. The Tom- cats may not be top of the region right, but its always tough to play at James A. Anderson, especially when there are a few bragging rights on the line. Russell seemed to have this problem last year toward tournament time, so we'll have to see how things pan out this year. If I recall correctly, Russell shot the lights out from the free-throw line for at least 3 games last year (District final, 2 Regional games). Prior to that, they went most of January on a tear. I don't recall them losing to another Kentucky team between Christmas through a few games into February. (I believe they lost to Ohio state runner-up Ironton and a team from Georgia.) Some people said they were peaking too early last year. So just maybe, Russell is planning a similar run for a little later in the season this year. I didn't get to go to the game, so all my info comes via the paper and the radio. VanHoose seemed a little off last night, and the radio color analyst, ehm, commented that Hoose's knee might have been bothering him a little bit. I was very impressed with Gill last night, (the paper says a double-double with 14 rebs and 12 points) even against a smaller East Carter team. Blair was also effective in the offense, which seemed to be moving the ball quite well. Clark was a bit of a non-factor in his first game back, but I would be willing to bet he'll be back in no time. Overall, it was a pretty good performance, but Russell simply gave up an opportunity to put it away. Hopefully, the Devils can fix that (I know, the more you work, the more it hurts) and get on a bit of a roll over the next month or so.

I do believe he would have done a little to limit Owens's effectiveness at the very least (at least stop an assist and force a bad shot, or stop a transition score or two), and that would have given Russell the victory, but alas, we will never know.