It might not have been a wrestling match, but Russellville got the full Nelson at Warren Central on Friday night.

Karika Nelson scored seven of the Lady Dragons’ first 10 points to finish with 19 – including three 3-pointers – in Warren Central’s 85-54 rout of the Lady Panthers.

Despite the healthy margin of victory, Warren Central coach Todd Steward saw room for improvement.

“We shot it horrible,” he said. “Especially early, we weren’t taking it up strong. It was a good win. I just think that, it was like our first few shots looked like we weren’t even ready to catch the ball. I thought we did a good job on the boards.”

It was pressure defense the whole way for Warren Central (2-3), thanks to a 2-2-1 fullcourt press and a halfcourt man-to-man defense that forced Russellville (0-5) into turnovers throughout the game.

The first quarter began with the Lady Dragons jumping out to a 16-6 lead en route to a 19-10 cushion at the end of the first. From the second quarter on, Warren Central dominated on the boards and in penetration. Forwards Mason Donisi and Amber Carter led the way up front with 11 and 12 points, respectively, helping the Lady Dragons to a 43-25 halftime edge.

Russellville tried to keep Warren Central out of the paint with a 2-3 zone, but had little success.

“There were a lot of good things I took from this game,” Russellville coach Dedra Croslin said. “We improved from last game on a lot of the things that tend to bother me. We had a tendency to dribble the ball around the 3-point line and tonight we took it to the hole and we got a lot of points at the (free throw) stripe.”

The Lady Panthers struggled against Warren Central’s press. At one point in the third quarter, Warren Central forced Russellville into three straight turnovers in the backcourt.

A 15-4 run in the fourth quarter sealed the victory for Warren Central.

Five players finished the game in double figures for the Lady Dragons, with Jordan Crain tacking on 16 points and Kyrstin Corder contributing 10.

Jane Higgins had the hot hand for Russellville, hitting five 3s and leading all scorers with 25 points. Nakia Daniel had 14 for the Lady Panthers.

RHS 10 15 16 13-54

WCHS 19 24 16 26-85

WCHS – Nelson 19, Crain 16, Carter 12, Mason 11, Corder 10, Hatchett 6, Bridges 3, Hoover 3, Britt 2, Rigsby 1.

RHS – Higgins 25, Daniel 14, Rippy 5, Collins 3, B. Hampton 2, I. Hampton 2, Sells 2, Milan 1.