Lady Eagles race to early lead, never look back in 60-38 win at Russellville

Jamestown junior Mackenzie Strother (22) puts up a shot over Russellville sophomore Libby Mueller in Friday night's game. Strother had nine points in the Lady Eagles' 60-38 victory.
Jamestown junior Mackenzie Strother (22) puts up a shot over Russellville sophomore Libby Mueller in Friday night's game. Strother had nine points in the Lady Eagles' 60-38 victory.

Playing on the road against a bigger opponent, Jamestown girls basketball coach E.H. Hirschvogel asked his team to make an early statement Friday night against the Lady Indians.

"We wanted to use our speed and get after it," he said. "We wanted to come out and attack."

The Lady Eagles took their coach's message to heart, blazing to a 19-8 lead. Jamestown built the advantage to 16 at halftime and pulled away in the third quarter, leaving Russellville with a 60-38 victory.

"It's tough when you start down 10 points in the first quarter," Lady Indians coach David Volkart said. "That's a tough hole to climb out of, but give credit to Jamestown. They took it to us."

Russellville tried to chip away in the third quarter, getting within 38-25 on senior Justice Miller's layup. The Lady Eagles, however, responded with an 11-0 run to regain the momentum. Junior guard Alli Muri started the rally with a 3-pointer, followed by a steal and layup from junior guard Mickayla Strother.

"It was lackluster to start the third quarter, but we called a timeout and put everything back into place," Hirschvogel said. "That's when everything started clicking for us."

Jamestown mixed up its offensive attack throughout the game, making it hard for Russellville's defense. Mickayla Strother finished with 15 points, junior guard Lexi Muri had 13, Alli Muri scored 11 and junior forward Mackenzie Strother added nine points.

"They're a tough matchup," Volkart said. "They don't have much size, but they're quick and shoot the ball really well. It's very tiring and hard to stop."

Hirschvogel was pleased with the balanced scoring attack.

"We need everybody to contribute," he said. "That makes us dangerous because other teams can't game plan to stop one person."

The Lady Eagles appear to be hitting their stride, evening their record at 5-5 this season.

"We're coming along as a group, but we still have quality teams remaining on our schedule," Hirschvogel said. "There are challenges ahead."

Miller finished with nine points for Russellville (2-9), while senior guard Haley Windsor had eight points and senior guard Adrianna Basnett and sophomore forward McKendra Fischer each scored six.