RHS basketball teams look ahead to important games on horizon
BOYS
Deshler 67, Russellville 56
Deshler came to Russellville Jan. 7 and defeated RHS to split the season series between the two schools on the basketball court.
Coach Brian Pounders’ team held a 16-11 lead over the Golden Tigers after one quarter of action, and DHS took a 10-point advantage into the half.
Russellville battled back to start the second half and trimmed the lead to five going into the fourth period by outscoring Deshler 19-14 in the third quarter; however, DHS outscored the Golden Tigers in the fourth by a 19-13 total to get the victory.
Brooks Scott led Russellville with 20 points. Levi Gist scored 14, and Chandler Dyas finished with nine. Jeb Bishop added eight, and Nathaniel Trussell scored five.
Lawrence County 73, Russellville 59
Regular-season Class 5A, Area 14 action resumed Friday night as the Golden Tigers traveled to Moulton to take on the Red Devils.
LCHS took a 35-23 lead into the half and grew the advantage to 17 points after three quarters of play. Russellville was able to outscore the Red Devils by an 18-15 total in the game’s final
period, but it wasn’t enough, as Lawrence County improved to 17-3 on the season and 4-1 in the area.
“We’ve got to play better, and that’s just the bottom line,” said Russellville head coach Patrick Odom. “We didn’t play well and didn’t deserve to win, but I told our guys I’d rather have that now than next month – but we’ve got to figure it out in a hurry.”
Russellville (9-8, 0-4) was led in scoring by Brooks Scott. The junior had 15 points.
He was followed by Gist with 13. Bishop scored in double-figures with 10, and Dyas had nine. Boots McCulloch and Samuel Pace added four points apiece, while Jamaal Hubbard and Nathaniel Trussell each scored two points.
GIRLS
Deshler 63, Russellville 32
The Lady Golden Tigers and Deshler finished the first quarter tied 14-14, but DHS then pulled away for the win.
After trailing 37-24 at halftime, Russellville scored eight points in the second half, with both squads totaling three points apiece in the game’s final quarter. Deshler scored one field goal in the fourth on a three-pointer, and RHS had three successful free -hrow attempts in the final period.
Madison Murray led Russellville with 11 points. Autumn Logan scored eight, Jayna Poss had four, and Krista Sikes added three. AJ Taylor, Lexie Glass and Leah Rushing scored two points each.
Lawrence County 55, Russellville 30
Eight Russellville players scored in the game at LCHS, with Lexie Glass leading the way with eight points. Murray scored six, while Jenna Whitfield and Rushing had four points apiece. Fallin Cox scored two, as did Sikes, Poss and Logan.
With the loss, the Russellville record fell to 4-15 on the season and 1-3 in area play. Important area games remain against Hamilton and West Point, and both will take place at home for RHS over the course of the next week.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to secure that three-seed now, as far as matchups are concerned going into the area tournament,” said Russellville head coach Jermaine Groce. “You definitely don’t want to be matched up with West Point in the first game.”