The Russellville Golden Tigers boys basketball team finished in third place at the annual TimesDaily Classic held in Florence.

After a first round bye, RHS faced the Wilson Warriors Dec. 19 at Coffee Gym, and the Golden Tigers got an 83-41 victory.

Head coach Patrick Odom’s Russellville team jumped out to a 21-9 first quarter lead and never looked back. RHS was up 41-20 at the half, and 60-34 after three quarters of play.

EJ King led the Golden Tigers with 24 points, and Gavin Hyde followed with 17. KJ Murray, Bralynn Vincent and Malachi Duncan added 10 each, and Mike Young scored seven. Next was Amir Williams with three points and Jah Williams rounded-out the scoring with two.

After all the teams took Wednesday off, RHS was back in action for the semi-finals on Thursday versus Northridge. The Jaguars from Tuscaloosa continued their strong start to the season by getting a 63-49 win over Russellville. Northridge is led by Coach Barry Sanderson, the son of former University of Alabama head basketball coach Wimp Sanderson.

After a number of consolation games on Dec. 22, Russellville took the court at UNA for the third place game versus the Deshler Tigers. DHS fell to Florence High in the semis to set up the contest. EJ King’s 30 point performance helped the Golden Tigers to a 74-63 victory.

Later that night, Northridge improved to 15-1 on the season by taking the championship game over Florence, 60-49.

Next up for the RHS boys will be the Bracy Invitational at Deshler High School. The Golden Tigers will open the three-day event with a game against Marion County on Dec. 26.

Russellville’s varsity girls also were on the court with a game on Dec. 19 at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville. RHS took on Decatur Heritage Christian Academy, and the Lady Golden Tigers lost 57-44.

Ella Copeland led Russellville with 19 points. Jacey Moore scored nine, Laila Hill added seven, Sadie Odom had five and Blevyn Sappington finished with four points.

Next on the schedule for the RHS girls was the West Morgan Holiday Classic beginning with a game versus Ardmore Dec. 27.