Russellville girls win Classic

J.R. Tidwell/FCT Amber Elliott, Ashley Dunstan, Taylor Smith and Ayanna McCullough all made the TimesDaily Classic Girls All-Tournament team. Elliot also took home the MVP plaque for the girl’s side.

J.R. Tidwell
jr.tidwell@fct.wpengine.com

FLORENCE — The Russellville girls won a close, hard-fought game against Lauderdale County 53-51 to take home the first-place trophy in the inaugural girl’s bracket of the TimesDaily Classic Tournament.
Lauderdale County jumped out to an early lead, aided by Russellville turnovers. The Lady Tigers took a 9-5 advantage deep into the first quarter, but the Lady Golden Tigers closed the gap to 11-9 by the end of the first eight minutes.
“These were two good teams playing each other,” Russellville head coach James Bostick said. “This was the first time having a girls final in this tournament, and the fans sure got their money’s worth.”
Russellville tied the contest up at 13-13 midway through the second, and from that point on the teams would swap the lead five times.
The Lady Golden Tigers took the lead at 2:30 remaining in the half, but the Lady Tigers retook the advantage before intermission.
Lauderdale County picked up a lead and managed to hold it for most of the third and fourth quarters, but Russellville made one final comeback on the shoulders of Amber Elliott, Taylor Smith, Ayanna McCullough, Victoria Jackson and Ashley Dunston to go ahead 47-45 with just over one minute remaining in the game.
Smith and McCullough made free throws to ice the game, giving Russellville the victory.
“This was a great win for our team,” Bostick said. “It was a ‘whole’ team win.”
Elliot led the Lady Golden Tigers in scoring with 24, with McCullough and Jackson also reaching double figures at 12 and 10 respectively. Dunston had 4 points and Smith had 3.

Florence 91, Russellville Boys Varsity 39

The Russellville boys varsity team was handed a brutal loss at the hands of the Florence Falcons in the championship round of the boy’s bracket.
Absolutely nothing went the Golden Tigers way. Florence had a 19-0 lead before Jackson Smith scored Russellville’s first points of the night on a lay-up at 1:45 remaining in the first. Smith hit an and one, and John T. Watkins hit a single free throw afterwards, totaling all of the Golden Tigers’ first quarter points. The game went on in this fashion throughout, ending on a slam dunk by Florence as time expired.
“We have to learn that we can’t run up and down the court with athletes like them,” Russellville head coach Michael Smith said. “We have to be patient on offense, and keep the other team’s number of possessions        limited.”