Trigg County’s ability to take care of the basketball and find balanced scoring proved key on Friday as they held off Russellville 55-53 on the Lady Panthers’ home court.
Not only was the win Trigg County’s first of the season, it was Trigg’s first win over Russellville in 10 career meetings.
Eighth grader Legna Taylor scored seven points in the opening quarter for Russellville and seventh grader DeMyiah Allen added six as the Lady Panthers built a 15-7 lead.
Trigg saw five players score in the second quarter as they scored 20 points – the most in any quarter this season.
A.J. Navarro scored seven points in both the second and third quarters on her way to a season-high 16 points for the Lady Wildcats.
Veyda Grinols also scored six points in the third quarter as the Lady Wildcats outscored Russellville 16-4 and took a 43-35 lead into the final frame.
Trigg County survived 4-of-13 shooting at the free throw line in the final quarter and held on despite getting outscored by six points in the final eight minutes.
Trigg hit just 14-of-30 free throws in the game while Russellville was 6-of-14 at the charity stripe – one of the rare times a Second Region team enjoyed a free throw advantage on a Fourth Region’s team home floor.
However, Trigg County committed a season-low 15 turnovers to offset its shaky shooting down the stretch.
Reese Bush knocked down two of Trigg County’s three 3-pointers and finished with 16 points, joining Grinols and Navarro with a 16-point night.
Mariyah Merriweather hit four 3-pointers and led Russellville with 15 points.
Trigg County will play in the Murray Bank Lady Tiger Classic after the Christmas holiday.
Trigg County 7 20 16 12– 55
Russellville 15 16 4 18– 53
Trigg County (1-4) – Navarro 16, Grinols 16, Bush 16, Jones 4, Norwood 2, Mayes 1
Russellville (1-8) – Merriweather 15, Boyd 11, Taylor 9, Kimbrough 6, Allen 6, Hampton 2, Wilson 2, McCoy 2
