The basketball season for the Russell County Lakers and Lady Lakers came to a halt Monday night in Albany as both teams were defeated in the opening round of the 16th District Tournament at Clinton County High School.
In the opening game, the 4-seed Lady Lakers fell to the 1-seed Metcalfe County Lady Hornets by a score of 49-29.
The Lady Lakers jumped out to an early lead, scoring the game’s first four points, but struggled from there, being outscored in the first half 28-8.
The Lady Lakers shot just 10-44 from the field including 2-17 from three.
Sophie Shearer led the Lady Laker scoring with 8 points to go along with 9 rebounds. Maleah Preston finished with a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with 7 points.
The Lady Lakers finish with a final record of 8-20 on the season.
In the nightcap, the Lakers went down to the wire with the Clinton County Bulldogs, staying within one or two possessions most of the game before Clinton County pulled away in the final minutes as the Bulldogs outscored the Lakers 20-11 in the fourth quarter.
Offensively, the Lakers had success shooting the ball, shooting 47 percent from the floor and knocking down 9-19 three-pointers on the night, but were hampered by 13 turnovers.
And defensively, the Lakers struggled to come up with stops down the stretch as Clinton County shot 12-17 from the floor in the second half and went 12-14 from the free throw line.
Three Lakers finished in double figures as Mayes Gosser led the way with 14 points, followed by Owen Loy with 12, and Braydon Cerrato with 11.
The Lakers finish with a final record of 4-23 on the season.
