By Staff
Kim West
Terence Smith had a career night as No. 2 Russellville overcame a poor shooting performance to defeat Decatur 64-53 Friday in the opening round of the Class 5A, Area 16 tournament.
Smith scored a career-high 29 points and shot 12-of-13 from the free throw line. He also added seven rebounds and three blocks, including two crowd-pleasing swats in the opening minutes of the first quarter.
Russellville's 3-point shooting arsenal struggled to connect as the Golden Tigers finished 4-of-15 from long distance and shot only 38 percent from the field. Decatur was 6-of-18 from 3-point range, including 3-of-7 in the second half to keep the game close.
The first half featured six lead changes and three ties as the Red Raiders (4-21) stayed within striking distance of Russellville (27-0) in their third meeting this season.
"Decatur did a good job getting back and not allowing us to run – it's always tough to play the same team three or four times in a season," Russellville coach Michael Smith said. "Our 3-point shooting has been down lately, and we did a good job of not forcing the issue. We know we're not going to have a bad game from all five of our starters, and Terence had a great game tonight."
The Golden Tigers took the lead for good with 4:28 left in the first half as Jermaine Bates converted a driving layup and posted up for a turnaround jumper and Smith scored five straight points to put Russellville ahead 29-22 at halftime.
Bates came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting and finished with seven rebounds. Cory Trapp added eight points, while Nate Dunstan and Siran Winston, who swiped five steals, both had six points.
William Johnson tossed in a team-high 11 points, and Torrick Spangler finished with eight points and 10 rebounds for Decatur.
Russellville will play Muscle Shoals for the fourth time this season at home in the Area 15 tournament championship game Monday at 7 p.m. The winner will host a sub-regional game against the loser of the Area 12 finals Friday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m, while the Area 15 loser will play at the Area 12 winner.
If Russellville wins Monday and Friday, the Golden Tigers will advance to the Northwest Regional tournament at Wallace State in Hanceville Wednesday, Feb. 20.
The regional winner will play in the Final Four at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Thursday, Feb. 27-28. The Class 5A championship game will be held 4p.m. Friday, Feb. 28 at the BJCC.