Red Devils grind out a win: Burgess, Pridemore lead Russell in district win over Rams
· Yahoo Sports
RACELAND The grind-it-out season has arrived.
With the postseason looming, the latest 63rd District seeding contest looked more like a game of attrition than roundball Tuesday night. Russell persevered in the end and held off a Raceland comeback attempt to earn a 51-46 road win.
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“We haven’t been in too many of those (games),” Russell coach Derek Cooksey said, “but in our district games, you can expect it. We didn’t turn the ball over as much, and we did a good job rebounding the ball, which gave us second-chance opportunities.
“Anytime you get some experience for the postseason,” he added, “where you will have tight games, it’s going to pay dividends down the road.”
Weather and icy conditions over the last month wreaked havoc on team schedules. The Red Devils played just their second game in 19 days. The disruption can affect rhythm and timing, and it took a while for the game to find a flow. Russell never trailed on the Rams’ home floor, and the game had one tie early in the opening quarter.
“Tonight, I was pleased,” Cooksey said. “We went on a couple of runs, but once you go on those runs, it’s the energy that you have to expend. You have to capitalize, and you can’t get complacent and commit costly turnovers. It’s still something that we work on. I love my team. Raceland mixed in some defenses tonight, and maybe we were a little impatient where we thought one or two passes would get a high-percentage shot.”
Russell (15-5) enjoyed an early lead behind the steady play of guard Gabe Pridemore. The junior had 11 of his 13 points before halftime. A Jonah Arnett steal and three-point play before the break helped chip away at the Red Devils advantage. Neither team scored a point in the final 3:24 of the first half.
Raceland (13-9) held Russell to 20 points under its season average and more than 30 fewer points than in its first meeting this season.
“I was really proud of our defensive effort in man and in zone,” Raceland coach Joe Bryan said. “I thought we did a good job of following the scouting report, knowing what they were trying to accomplish. The first time we played them, we didn’t do any of that. We just have to get better offensively.”
The Red Devils doubled their 22-16 halftime lead with a quick 8-2 run to open the third quarter. Russell capitalized on a couple of Rams miscues and turned them into points. Five consecutive tallies from Ryder Burgess prompted a Raceland timeout.
“We were trying to control tempo, but sometimes, in a slow game, pressure doesn’t give you more possessions,” Cooksey said. “We gave them 16 in the first half. We knew sometime in the third we had to get more tempo. I felt that we were more aggressive on the front end of the quarter. We forced a couple of turnovers and hit a couple of shots.
“We had to get down and guard at the end,” he continued. “It was a three-point game. The timing situation at the end, you can simulate that all you want in practice, but it’s not like the real game. Both teams will benefit from this game.”
Burgess tallied 10 of his game-high 18 points in the third quarter. Tyler Cordial added 11 points and eight rebounds. Cooksey feels any starter can shoulder the load, but he also raved about the importance of his bench.
“This is still one of the most unselfish teams I’ve been around,” Cooksey said. “They aren’t worried about their stat line. Sometimes we share it a little too much. I was happy with our bench play tonight. Corbin McGrath and Taylor White have really come into their own. They’ve had big moments. Shae Burnham brings that energy and passion.”
In the first regular-season meeting at Marvin Meredith Gym, the game quickly got away from the Rams. They weren’t going to let it happen again. Jake Waller opened the fourth frame with an and-1. Eli Evans followed with a bucket and a pair of free throws to bring the Rams within a possession at 41-38. Evans recorded 12 points in his starting role and Bryan said his game continues to evolve.
“Eli’s role has expanded,” Bryan said. “He’s done a great job of seizing that moment and taking the opportunity that’s given. I am proud of him and he will continue to learn and get better.”
Raceland trimmed the lead to three on four separate occasions down the stretch, but Burgess was 4 of 5 at the line to help dim the comeback attempt.
“They are a team that scores it really well,” Bryan said. “They are going to go on some runs. I was proud of how we handled that adversity. We bounced right back in it instead of letting it snowball on us. We had a couple of turnovers, and when we are in our zone, we have to rebound the basketball. We gave up offensive rebounds on two straight possessions there. They were able to get buckets off those rebounds.”
Arnett led the Rams with 17 points. Charles Welch supplied nine.
Russell improves to 4-1 in district seeding play. Raceland drops to 1-3.
RUSSELL FG FT REB TP
Pridemore 6-11 1-2 2 13
Prickett 1-2 1-2 3 3
Burgess 5-12 4-5 4 18
Benge 1-4 1-2 5 4
Cordial 4-8 3-5 8 11
McGrath 0-2 0-0 0 0
White 1-2 0-0 0 2
Burnham 0-0 0-0 1 0
Team 4
TOTAL 18-41 10-16 27 51
FG Pct: 43.9. FT Pct: 62.5. 3-point FGS: 4-17 (Pridemore 0-3, Burgess 3-8, Benge 1-3, Cordial 0-1, McGrath 0-2) PF: 9. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 10.
RACELAND FG FT REB TP
Caines 0-1 0-0 0 0
Evans 5-7 2-2 4 12
Jak. Waller 3-11 1-1 3 8
Arnett 6-14 5-5 2 17
Welch 4-7 0-0 5 9
Jax. Waller 0-0 0-0 0 0
Large 0-0 0-0 0 0
Bradshaw 0-0 0-0 0 0
Team 3
TOTAL 18-40 8-8 17 46
FG Pct: 45.0. FT Pct: 100.0. 3-point Fgs: 2-12 (Caines 0-1, Evans 0-1, Jak. Waller 1-5, Arnett 0-3, Welch 1-2) PF: 12. Fouled out: Arnett. Turnovers: 9.
RUSSELL 13 9 15 14 – 51
RACELAND 9 7 13 17 – 46
Officials: Maurio McKissick, Gavin Ramsey, Greg Stevens
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