Russia Girls Basketball Wins District Championship

Russia senior Maria Herron got Covington's best defensive 
effort and a district title to go along with it

A former local girls basketball coach came up to me shortly after Saturday's district championship game between Russia and Covington. He shook his head and exclaimed, "If you would have told me Russia could beat Covington without Maria Herron scoring a single field goal the entire game, I would have called you crazy!" The fact is, if I would have actually said that about the Russia senior, I might have questioned my own sanity! Credit Covington for an absolutely stellar defensive effort on the Shelby County Player of the Year who ended the game 5-for-6 from the free throw line, all in the 4th quarter, for all five of her points. More importantly, credit Herron's coaches and teammates. On top of that list Saturday was Tiffany Hatcher, Russia's only other senior, who came up big when her team needed it most to lead the Lady Raiders to a 42-28 District Championship.

Quarter 1

Hatcher's two 3's, two free throws and 

two steals led Russia in the first half

If Russia fans were nervous about a slow start, Hatcher calmed their fears immediately when she buried a three-pointer from the corner seven seconds into the game. Additional baskets by junior Cameo Wilson and sophomore Laurissa Poling built a 7-2 Lady Raiders lead. Covington clawed back, led by star point guard Sammi Whiteman, a 1st team All-CCC sophomore. Whiteman connected on her own three-pointer and another short jumper on an ensuing possession to eventually tie the score at 9-9. The teams ended the quarter with Lady Buccs leading 11-9.

Quarter 2
Hatcher kick-started her team again 37 seconds into the quarter with two free throws to knot things up at 11. Russia eventually got a brief lead at the 5:38 mark with an old fashioned three-point play by Poling to make the score 14-13, but Covington senior guard Addison Metz got hot canning back-to-back field goals along with a Whiteman jumper to give the Lady Buccs their biggest lead of the game at five points. Russia responded with a Wilson layup and Hatcher nailed another three-pointer to bring Russia fans to their feet and tie the score at 19. Covington senior Lexie Long ended the period with a layup to make it 21-19 and the Buccs maintained the same two-point advantage they had after the first quarter.

Perhaps the most significant statistic of the first half was that 10 Russia turnovers turned into 10 points for Covington while seven Covington turnovers resulted in only five points for Russia. The most glaring stat for Russia fans, however, was just three Lady Raiders had scored with Hatcher's 8, Wilson's 6 and Poling's 5 compared to a balanced attack by the Lady Buccs with six scorers overall, led by Whiteman with 7.

Russia's All-SCAL post players Poling and Wilson had a solid first half. Poling scored five points, had five rebounds and four blocks. Wilson netted six points on 3-for-5 shooting.

Pleiman, a point guard, was second
in rebounds for Russia with five 

Quarter 3

The third period started with a pair of free throws from Russia junior Whitney Pleiman and then, on cue, Hatcher drilled another three-pointer to put the Raiders up 24-21 and give them a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Poling closed out the quarter with Russia's final three points for a 27-23 lead. At this point, Herron still hadn't scored, but she had a huge quarter defensively with four steals and helped force Covington into 10 turnovers, more than they had the entire first half. It was Herron's defense that set the tone for the entire second half.

Quarter 4

Russia sophomore Jenna Cordonnier opened the scoring with her only field goal of the game, but Covington starter Victoria Lyle quickly hit a couple free throws to keep the Buccs within striking distance at 29-25. That was close enough for Hatcher, as she stepped up to nail a jumper and two free throws at the 3:11 mark to make the score 33-25. Russia scored on free throws the rest of the game, nine more times, including the five by Herron, to make the final score seem worse than it actually was at 42-28. 

The game was certainly a tale of two halves. In the second half, Russia scored seven points off 11 Covington turnovers while Covington couldn't cash in on any of Russia's six turnovers. Russia also balanced their scoring attack with six girls as Covington managed just two scorers. Russia's defensive effort left the Lady Buccs without a field goal the entire second half on 0-for-21 shooting. All seven of Covington's second half points came from the foul line. The Lady Buccs bowed out of the tournament at 20-6 while Russia improved to 21-5 and advances to play Minster (23-2) in the Regional Tournament this Thursday at 8:00 in Vandalia Butler's Student Activity Center. 

Box Score:

Russia (42) - Hatcher 11-4-15, Poling 6-2-8, Wilson 6-2-8, Herron 0-5-5, Cordonnier 2-2-4, Pleiman 0-2-2

Covington (28) - Whiteman 7-5-12, Metz 4-2-6, Lyle 2-2-4, Christian 2-0-2, L.Long 2-0-2, Warner 2-0-2

The district title was Russia's third since 2012 and their 21 wins is one away from tying a school record of 22 wins set in 1994.