Russellville’s Ashley Dunstan shoots the ball. Photo by Bart Moss.

By Bart Moss

For the FCT

Ashley Dunstan powered the Russellville Golden Tigers to a 39-28 win over the Tharptown Wildcats in the two teams’ first-ever matchup on the hardwood.

Dunstan’s dominating presence inside the lane led to a 23-point performance, which led all scorers on the night.

Russellville outscored Tharptown 13-3 in each of the first two quarters to take a 26-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Kamri Sears scored all six of the Wildcats points in the first half.

Tharptown battled back in the third quarter outpacing the Golden Tigers 15-7 to cut Russellville’s lead to 33-21.

Tharptown’s Haley Malone hit a running three-point jumper at the buzzer to cut Russellville’s margin of victory to nine points.

Victoria Jackson added seven points for the Golden Tigers. Also scoring were Abby Holcomb with three points and Angela Woods, Peyton Hester and Jakari Suggs with two points each.