Republic County and Russell entered play on Friday night as the top two teams in the North Central Activities Association. Even though it's a long season, a win for the Lady Buffs would put them in good position to win a league crown.
But the Russell girls are in the middle of a nice season, and after losing back in December at Republic County, the Lady Broncos had revenge on their minds.
Lady Buffs jumped out to an early lead, going up 8-4 after the first quarter and stretching the lead to six points early in the second.
But Russell then preceded to go on a 10-0 run to open up a six point lead midway though the second quarter. The two teams then traded punches, and the teams hit the locker rooms for the half tied at 17.
"You gotta give a lot of credit to Russell, " said Republic County head coach Alan Sheets. "They fought back into it, they went to their strength. Credit to Russell, I think they had more to do with that comeback than maybe our lackluster effort."
Russell came out of the momentum, retaking the lead and holding on to a four point advantage after three quarters.
In the forth, Russell lead by as many as eight points before Republic County began its comeback. The Lady Broncos helped the cause by missing some big free throws down the stretch including a big front end of a one and one by Savanna Huff with less than a minute left in the game.
After that miss, the Lady Buffs down just one, ran its offense and found Devin Nutsch with one second left on the clock. Russell called timeout to set up on last desperation shot. But instead the inbound pass is picked off by Republic Co. Lady Buff score the dramatic 37-36 victory.
"It's always big to win on the road," said Sheets. "Russell was sitting second in our league. They now have three losses and we are undefeated.
"We are still undefeated in our league that was on of our goals so I think that was a big difference maker."
In the boys game, Republic County had little trouble with a struggling Russell team, winning 72-21.
