Host Russellville’s teams will try to get their seasons jump-started in the second half of the season tonight when crosstown Logan County comes calling for the Mullen Meguiar Classic/Clash of the Cats.
Logan’s teams are slight favorites in both games, according to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s RPI ratings. The Lady Cougars are favored by seven points and the Cougars by three.
Only one of the four head coaches in these games was in that position last season. The new coaches are Josh Frick of the Cougars, Orlando Hayden of the Lady Panthers and Phil Todd of the Panthers.
Calling Phil Todd a “new coach” is misleading. He’s beginning his third stint as the Panther bench boss. He’s coached RHS to two state Final Fours, three regional championships and three regional runner-up slots. He has been inducted into the Russellville Alumni Association’s Athletic Hall of Fame twice, once as a player and once as a coach. The headline of his resume, though, is the court on which tonight’s games will be played bears his name and signature.
Only one of the four teams has a winning record, and it may not be an accident in that the lone returning coach is at the helm. Coach Dedra ‘DK’ Adler is in her third year coaching the Lady Cougars. Last year she was named Regional Coach of the Year for converting the undersized team into a contender in most every game they played. She previously coached the Lady Panthers for a few years and having played in several of them as a Lady Cougar, the Clash of the Cats is nothing new to her.
The Lady Cougars are 9-6 overall and have won three games in a row. Impressively, they started 2023 by beating Glasgow 50-34 Tuesday. That was the same Lady Scottie team which edged LCHS 46-44 in overtime in the first game of the season.
One reason the Lady Cougars are improving is the development of young post players. Emerson McKinnis, who is the height of a guard or a wing, has had to play the post for three years, and she has done so admirably, but Logan has needed a true center. Adler’s daughter, seventh grader Brenley Adler, and sophomore Kyla Bilyeu, who is the first-ever girl to be named All-SKY in football, are taking some of the load off McKinnis.
Gracie Borders, who deserves serious consideration for first team All-Region while averaging a double-double, leads the Lady Cougars in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (10.9). Point guard Emily Borders is also strong in both categories at 4.9 in rebounding and 6.1 in scoring. Assist totals aren’t announced. Nora Epley is second in scoring at 8.7. McKinnis is the number two rebounder at 5.1 while Adler is at 4.5.
The Lady Panthers have the most experience player in the district and maybe in the region in senior Amiyah Collier, a former all-region regular season player. She is averaging 13.6 points per game.
The current star of this team is sophomore Lareesha Collier, who is making a bid for Regional Player of the Year. She is averaging 18.9 points per game and 12.8 rebounds, which is one of the top board totals in the state.
The only other reliable scorer has been senior Brinley Mason, who has been a key player for all four heard coaches the RHS girls have had in high school. She’s averaging 7.9 points. Jordin Morris is second in rebounding at 4.9 and fourth in scoring at 4.2.
A key to the Lady Panthers’ improvement could be the improved health of senior Jaylah Kees, who missed most of the first half of the season recovering from an injury. She has been either a starter or top reserve throughout high school.
The Lady Panthers are 4-6 and have won three of their last four games.
The Cougars have a 5-8 record. They had won four straight games at the close of the Roy’s BBQ/FSNB Shootout to run their record to 5-5 on Dec. 22, but they have lost three straight since then.
Logan is led in scoring by Jack Delaney with 10.3 points per game, but four other Cougars are averaging between 8.1-9.0. They are Kade Wall, Colby Collins, Brady Hinton and Zane Batten. Hinton is the leading rebounder at 4.7, followed by Batten at 4.3. Averaging between 2.9 and 3.8 boards are Evan Campbell, Delaney, Wall and JunVontre Dillard.
The Panthers are 3-9 and are on a four-game losing streak. They seemed to be ready to play the kind of basketball we’ve come to expect from a Phil Todd-coached team when they beat Greenwood 71-56 at home in the third game of the season. Their full court pressure was effective, and Jayden Russell hit 8 of 11 field goal attempts—including 6 of 7 from three-point range—on the way to 25 points. Russell has only hit 10 more shots from long range in the other 11 games. Wins have been hard to come by since then, however.
Three Panthers are averaging double figures in scoring with Eli McMurry, Tutu McKeage and Nick Woodard all between 10-8 and 10.2 points per game. McKeage is the leading rebounder at 5.7 boards per game. McMurry is averaging 4.5, Jayren Byrd 3.8, Nick Woodard 3.5 and Layne Steele and Noah Stovall 2.6 each.
In between games tonight, three men will be inducted into the Russellville Athletic Hall of Fame. They are Dustin Sydnor, Mikie Benton and the latte Stumpy Baker.
Both games and the Hall of Fame ceremony will be carried live on WRUS radio.