RHS racks up win, two close losses in recent games

The Lady Golden Tigers taken on the Loretto Lady Mustangs.

By Brannon King for the FCT

Russellville 61, Belgreen 45 (Helen Keller Hospital Bracy Invitational at Deshler)

The Russellville Golden Tigers defeated the Belgreen Bulldogs 61-45 in a loser’s bracket game on Tuesday in Tuscumbia.

Four Golden Tigers scored in double figures to help give Patrick Odom a win against his former team that he coached before taking over at Russellville.

The Golden Tigers used a strong first quarter to jump out to a 17-9 lead and outscored Belgreen 20-10 in the third to put the game out of reach.

Russellville’s Adonnis Bailey led all scorers with 14 points.  Others scoring for the Golden Tigers were Avery Sears (13), Joshua Seal (12), Austin Stidham (11), Taylor Vincent (5), Devin Buckhalter (4) and Kamar Baugh (2).

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Drew Boshell’s 12 points.  Jacob Mayberry (9), Brant Bragwell (8), Joseph Welch (5), Payton Scott (4), Mason Bragwell (4), Adam Green (2) and Eli Hiser (1) also scored for Belgreen.

Tanner 55, Russellville 52 (Brooks Classic)

Russellville had a shot to send a New Year’s Eve game to overtime as the game clock counted down to zero, but the ball dropped from the sky without going into the basket as the Tanner Rattlers (9-3) defeated the Golden Tigers 55-52 at the Brooks Classic in Killen on Thursday afternoon.

Russellville trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half but battled back to go on a 14-0 run to end the first half and start the second half.  The Golden Tigers made their first ten free-throws to aid the comeback attempt.

The Golden Tigers had a chance to tie the game with less than two seconds remaining, but Joshua Seal’s three-pointer at the buzzer was no good.

Seal led Russellville in scoring with 11 points. Buckhalter (10), Bailey (10), Vincent (8), Sears (5), Lucas McNutt (4) and Stidham (4) also scored for the Golden Tigers.

Brooks 55, Russellville 51 (Brooks Classic)

The Golden Tigers had another close game on Saturday but came up just short on the final day of the Brooks Classic in Killen, losing to the Lions 55-51.

Russellville (4-8) held the Lions scoreless until 2:06 remaining in the opening quarter before Brooks went on a run to trim the lead to 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.  The Lions kept the momentum and outscored Russellville 19-9 in the second period.

The Golden Tigers fought back in the second half and trailed 53-51 with a minute remaining in the game but just couldn’t complete the comeback.

“Our group is struggling with taking that last step that you have to take to be really good, and that’s learning how to finish these games off and winning,” head coach Patrick Odom said. “The positive is that we’re competing our tails off and we have a chance to win every night against good people, but there comes a point when we have to grow up and make the winning plays down the stretch when it matters.”

Vincent led Russellville with 13 points. Others scoring for the Golden Tigers were Sears (11), Seal (11), Stidham (8), Bailey (6) and Buckhalter (2).
Loretto 55, Russellville 35 (Keith Davis Memorial Christmas Tournament at Lauderdale County)

The Loretto Lady Mustangs came down from Tennessee to defeat the Russellville Lady Golden Tigers 55-35 in the loser’s bracket Tuesday in Rogersville.

Russellville fell behind early on and trailed 11-5 at the end of the first quarter, 25-15 at the half and 47-25 after three quarters.

The Lady Golden Tigers have struggled with finding consistency in the early part of the season and are still a work in progress.

“I’m just frustrated because we do something good one day and our intensity is good one day, and I think maybe the light bulb is coming on and we’re moving forward, and then the next day, it’s like the things we were doing good the day before just went totally down the drain, and we have to start over again,” Russellville head coach Brooke Long said after the game.

Seven Lady Golden Tigers scored in the game. Patricia Borden led the team with ten points. Others scoring for Russellville were Madison Murray (9), Megan Brockway (5), Madison Hargett (4), Aleshia Phillips (3), Kallie Allen (3) and Tristin Thomas (1).