Russellville falls to Lee

HANCEVILLE – Russellville put together a brief run to start the second half, but Lee-Huntsville found the key to stopping the Golden Tigers’ surge and pulled away for a 67-45 victory, ending Russellville’s playoff run one game shy of the state tournament.

The Golden Tigers struggled all game to break Lee’s pressing defense, which forced 18 turnovers – 12 of which came in the first half, leading to 18 points for the Generals.

“I don’t think turnovers really hurt us,” Russellville coach Michael Smith said. “We usually have 15 right off the bat.”

Russellville (24-10) trailed 35-20 at halftime and used six straight points by A.J. Elliot to cut the deficit to single digits.

“We wanted to pick up intensity,” Elliott said. “I wanted to come out and carry the team.”

Unfortunately for Russellville, Lee picked up its intensity on defense following the brief run and was able to push its lead 56-34 by the end of the third quarter.

Russellville’s offense took another hit in the third quarter when Will Bostick picked up his fourth foul of the game, relegating him to the bench for much of the second half.

Lee’s offense had few problems scoring, using speed and strong shooting to build an insurmountable lead. The Generals (24-8) shot 52.2 percent for the game and 50 percent on 3-pointers.

Lee’s Devin Langford, who struggled in the Generals’ last game, scored a game-high 18 points and opened up the offense for two other Lee players to reach double-digit scoring.

“I wish he played like he did the other night,” Smith said.

“When they are shooting like that, it is hard to defend anybody.”

Elliot and Travis Daniels scored 16 points each to lead the Golden Tigers and were both named to the All-Tournament team. Also scoring for Russellville were Darrian Graham (4), Brent Calloway (4), Matthew Duncan (3) and Adonis Robinson (2).