RUSSELL When the teams met in early December, West Carter and Russell took turns piling up points in the opening round of the Eastern Kentucky Conference tournament.

West Carter won an 85-81 shootout in overtime.

Tuesdays rematch looked nothing like that. Both defenses challenged every drive through the lane in a physical contest.

Russell struggled to get a basket early, but went on to feed off its own stops for a 61-47 victory in Marvin Meredith Gym.

Junior guard Charlie Jachimczuk called it one of the Red Devils top defensive performances.

Our coach (Tom Barrick) has been stressing defense all year, said Jachimczuk, who accounted for three of Russells eight steals. Its what we focus on the most. Tonight Ithink it was really good. Everybody did their part.

West Carter without guard catalyst Tyson Webb for the first time this season due to a concussion had a hard time getting open looks on the perimeter and met strong resistance around the basket. It resulted in 36-percent shooting and one of the Comets lowest scoring outputs of the season.

They are a team that likes to drive a lot, Jachimczuk said. Tyson Webb was out. (Braden) Leadingham is a pure driver. We tried to focus on closing off the lanes.

West Carter coach Jeremy Webb chalked it up as a tough night all around.

Its been what, eight days since we last had a game, he said. We couldnt practice for a while due to illness. We were down Tyson and just have some things to play through. Its just a part of what happens in the regular season.

Webb followed up by passing out kudos to the Red Devils.

Youve got to give Russell credit for the defense they played, Webb said. Theyre long and pretty athletic. Their length and overall defense gave us some difficulties.

West Carter (13-9) led 7-2 while Russell started 1-for-11 from the field. Then Tristan Millers 3-pointer triggered a 15-3 run in which the Red Devils scored three times off steals or Comets ballhandling miscues.

Russell closed the half with a similar flurry to take a 26-17 halftime lead. Miller opened the third quarter by coming off a screen to nail a 3-pointer. Teammate Brady Bell connected from long range following a West Carter turnover as the margin jumped to 15.

The Red Devils maintained at least a nine-point advantage the rest of the way. They made 23 of 28 second-half free throws, including 13 in a row during a stretch of the fourth quarter.

In all, Russell scored 26 points off West Carters 16 turnovers.

A lot of our offense goes through Tyson and Braden, said the Comets coach. Were having to learn without him. Were trying to replace 15 points and probably our best defender.

Leadingham finished with 16 points and Trevor Callahan added 11 for West Carter.

Russells Miller scored a game-high 22 hitting 6 of 8 floor shots and all eight of his free throw attempts. Jachimczuk joined him in double figures with 10 points.

Though the Red Devils 9-13 record isnt what their players and coaches wanted to this point, Jachimczuk likes the teams chances for making a postseason run.

I think we could go a pretty good ways in the tournament, he said. This (63rd) district is wide open with all four teams.

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rstanley@dailyindependent.com

W. CARTER FG FT REB TP

Jordan 1-3 2-2 1 4

B. Leadingham 6-16 3-4 6 16

Callahan 4-9 0-0 3 11

Dean 4-7 0-1 7 8

Tackett 0-4 0-0 3 0

Wilburn 1-4 0-0 1 2

Bond 2-6 1-2 0 6

Nichols 0-0 0-0 0 0

G. Leadingham 0-0 0-0 0 0

Team 5

TOTALS 18-49 6-9 26 47

FG Pct.: 36.7. FT Pct.: 66.7. 3-point FGs: 5-21 (Callahan 3-6, B. Leadingham 1-5, Bond 1-4, Jordan 0-1, Tackett 0-4, Dean 0-1). PF: 23. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 16.

RUSSELL FG FT REB TP

Jachimczuk 2-7 6-10 3 10

Bell 1-9 6-6 2 9

Cantrell 1-3 4-4 7 6

Bechtel 1-4 0-0 2 2

Miller 6-8 8-8 3 22

Downs 2-3 2-2 5 6

Goodman 2-2 2-3 3 6

Quinn 0-0 0-0 0 0

Team 4

TOTALS 15-36 28-33 29 61

FG Pct.: 41.7. FT Pct.: 84.8. 3-point FGs: 3-8 (Miller 2-3, Bell 1-3, Jachimczuk, Downs 0-1). PF: 15. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 13.

W. CARTER 10 7 14 16 47

RUSSELL 11 15 14 21 61

Officials: Jordan Barker, Larry Whelan, Tyler Maynard.

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