Russell’s fate sealed at line

By MELINDA ROBINSON — The Independent

MOREHEAD March 05, 2008 07:17 am

— It literally went down to the wire in historic Wetherby Gymnasium on Tuesday. When the smoke cleared, Morgan County had a 33-31 win over Russell to advance to Friday’s 16th Region semifinals.
“We got lucky,” Morgan County coach Jeff Brown said. “We played hard but when it comes down to a situation like that and someone’s at the free-throw line, getting ready to shoot three shots to win the basketball game, if she misses, you consider yourself lucky.”
Down two with 9.4 seconds on the clock and just enough time to get down the floor and set up one play, Russell went to one of its seniors, Samantha Sparks. Sparks went up for a
3-point shot but was fouled by Morgan County junior Leslie Eagle.
Sparks then went to the line for three attempts with no time left on the clock. However, Sparks missed the first two attempts — the third was not attempted — and the Lady Cougars punched their ticket to the semifinals.
“If I could put anybody at the line it would be Samantha,” Russell coach Merle Kidwell said. “She’s probably shot more free throws than anybody on our team. It was a very tough situation for her. She’s played in seven regional tournaments and had a great career.”
“I really do hate it for Sparks because she’s such a great ball player,” Brown said. “I hate it for her but I’m happy for my girls.”
The Lady Cougars (21-9) led all through the fourth quarter, but just barely.
Russell (17-11) was within one of Morgan County with 1:47 to play but Eagle stole the ball and hit a left-handed layup to increase the lead 33-30 with under a minute to play.
On the following possession, Russell missed several shots in a row but kept control of the ball. Russell senior Katrina Holmes was fouled on a putback with 16.4 seconds remaining. She sank the first of two, closing the gap slightly.
Morgan County’s Hannah Fugate went to the stripe on the next possession with 9.4 ticks on the clock but missed the first in a bonus situation. Russell’s Ashley Fortman rebounded the miss to set up the final play.
Morgan County was led by Eagle’s game-high 12 points and five steals. Fugate added 11 points.
Russell was led by Kelsey Simpson’s 10 points and nine rebounds. Sparks finished with nine points.
Morgan County trailed by as much as five in the third quarter but was able to force several turnovers to stay in the game and eventually retake the lead. Russell turned the ball over 17 times compared to Morgan County’s seven.
“We have to turn people over,” Brown said. “We’re kind of like Rowan County in that aspect, we’re small and quick and we have to turn people over before we can be effective.”
The Lady Cougars had 10 steals and scored 19 points off turnovers.
Russell did win the war on the boards, outrebounding Morgan County 34-27.
“I thought our big girls did a really good job at crashing the boards,” Kidwell said. “We just didn’t do a good job of finishing. We probably missed 10 or 12 easy shots inside.
“I can’t fault our girls. They deserved a better ending than they got tonight.”
The Lady Cougars will meet Rowan County Friday in Ellis T. Johnson Arena at Morehead State. Tipoff is 8:15 p.m.

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