The 11-6 Lady Lakers fell to district rival Clinton County on Friday night at Laker Gym by a final score of 43-40.

Leading the way for Russell County was freshman LeeAnn Grider with 16 points and junior Lindsay Ramage with 13 points and nine rebounds.

“We shot 20  percent from the field and 15 percent from perimeter,” said Lady Laker coach Craig Pippen. “Our defense was solid the first half for the most part.”

Early on, Russell County only allowed Clinton County 14 points.

“However, do to our low percentage shooting, we only had 18 points,” Pippen said.

“The shots were there all night. Put backs, post moves, jump shots and three point attempts.”

Pippen said his team didn't shoot the ball well at all.

“We had multiple opportunities to take the lead late in the game and build on it but we failed to take advantage of the many opportunities Clinton County presented us,” he said.

Pippen added his team also had a few break downs on defense late in the game with problems of help and recover and defensive rotation.

“When you shoot just 20 percent from the field you better bring your A game on team defense,” he said.

“We didn't do that. That is one thing we are going to have to work on and continue to stress.”

Pippen said his Lady Lakers are going to have games where they don't shoot the ball well so must play better and more solid team defense.

Also scoring for Russell County was senior Rachael Miller with four points and five rebounds, senior Kim Pierce with three points and eight rebounds, and both junior Blair Hoover and freshman Julie Wethington with two points each.

Breonia Thurman led Clinton County with 15 points while the Lady Dawgs shot 41 percent for the game.

“Teams that make defense a staple in their programs win championships and we are trying to get to that level of play,” he said.

“We told our girls even though we shot just 20 percent from the field, we only lost by 3,” he said.

“That should tell them something about our defensive effort and how important it is to make free throws.

He said his team's defense kept them in the game along with  free throws of which Russell County made 17 of 21.

“Now we need to just get better on the defensive side of the ball and keep shooting but do so with confidence,” he said.