The Russell County Lady Lakers came away with a big district win Monday night at Cumberland County by a score of 51-39.
The Lady Lakers started strong, jumping out to a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Panthers came back to cut the lead to 20-19 going into halftime.
The Lady Lakers were able to pull away in the second half to come up with a major district win, their second in a row.
Maleah Preston came through with her best game of the season, scoring 17 points and pulling down 9 rebounds to lead the Lady Lakers, while Sophie Shearer finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lady Lakers are now 7-12 on the season, while the Lady Panthers are now 12-7.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Lakers suffered their largest margin of defeat to Cumberland County since 1997 as the Panthers easily defeated the Lakers 75-51.
The Lakers jumped out to an 11-9 lead over the Panthers after one quarter, but the Panthers outscored the Lakers 28-10 in the second quarter and were able to build on the lead even more in the second half to pick up the win.
Poor shooting doomed the Lakers, as they shot just 32 percent from the floor while allowing the Panthers to shoot 50 percent.
Three technical fouls were called on the Lakers during the course of the game.
Mayes Gosser led the Lakers in scoring with 19 points and 9 rebounds, followed by Owen Loy with 17 and Trace Stringer with 8.
With the loss, the Lakers are now 3-13 on the season and winless in district play, while the Panthers move to 7-10 and pick up their first district win.
The Lakers and Lady Lakers are back on the road on Thursday as they travel to Tompkinsville for a double-header with Monroe County.
