By Staff
Kim West
Franklin County Times
FLORENCE – The Russellville varsity boys will make their seventh appearance in the TimesDaily Classic championship game as the Golden Tigers overwhelmed Shoals Christian 88-46 Thursday night at Flowers Hall.
Russellville (8-0) used a blend of effective outside shooting by starting guards Jordan Hammond, Siran Winston and Cory Trapp, who combined for 50 points, and an unstoppable inside game sparked by Terence Smith and Jermaine Bates, who finished with a game-high 19 points, including 15 in the second half.
Russellville led by only two points after the first quarter but seized control in the second with a 31-12 run to lead 47-26 at halftime. The Golden Tigers put the game away with a 14-2 run to open the final period.
Jordan Hammond scored 16 points, including eight in the first quarter, while Siran Winston and Cory Trapp added 12 apiece. Russellville's bench produced 23 points, including eight from Mason Willis and seven from Yovanni Ramirez.
Andrew Almon, who fouled out midway through the fourth quarter, led Shoals Christian with 14 points, while Ben Kahler added nine and Mark Morissey had seven.
The Golden Tigers advanced out of the Colbert County bracket by beating Phil Campbell Monday and Colbert Heights Tuesday, and they will play the Muscle Shoals-Deshler winner tonight at 7 p.m. at Flowers Hall.
The annual dunking and 3-point shooting contest preliminaries will be held prior to the game, and the final round will be held during halftime.