Excitement abounds at Russellville High School and around town following their Lady Panthers' winning the 13th District championship Thursday night. It was RHS’ first time to win the girls’ title in this century.
In fact, the similarities between this championship and the school’s last one in 1999 are striking with bloodlines involved.
Consider these likenesses:
*Both the `99 team and this ’23 squad went into the tournament as the fourth seed. The older group, in fact, had not won a district game all season.
*Both tournaments were played at Todd Central High School.
*Leslie Todd, a young key contributor on the 1999 team, is the mother of LaReesha Cawthorn, the current Lady Panthers’ leading scorer and rebounder.
*The late Ashley ‘Coco’ Kees Collier was a freshman on that team. The picture of the Lady Panthers immediately after winning the championship shows her at the very front of the pack, beaming and yelling. She’s the mother of A’miyah Collier, a five-year starter and second leading scorer for this year’s team. Coco’s nieces, Jaylah Kees and Ja’eda Poindexter, are among the six Lady Panthers who see most of the playing time.
*One of the RHS cheerleaders 24 years ago was Coco’s sister, Shannon Kees (Leavell). She is now a coach of the cheerleaders who are among the most entertaining spirit squads the school has ever fielded.
*April Steenbergen (Triplett) was a steady contributor for the ’99 team. She became the newest member of the Russellville Board of Education this year.
*Franklin-Simpson was the fourth rated team in the region this year and Logan County had one of the highest win totals. In ’99, the Lady Cougars were ranked fourth in the region, Franklin had beaten regional favorite Warren East the week before, and, yet, Todd Central was the number one seed. The Lady Panthers emerged as the champion of both tournaments.
*Dedra ‘DK’ Basham (Adler) was one of three seniors on that ’99 Lady Cougar team. A former Lady Panther head coach, she’s now coach of the Logan team which RHS beat 45-40 in the finals. Her daughter, seventh grader Brenley Adler, is a starter on the current LCHS team. DK’s daughter and Leslie’s daughter—both post players—are destined to Clash for the next two years.
*Dennis Pardue was in his first year as coach of the Todd boys team, which upset defending regional champion Russellville in the district finals. He was coach of the Lady Panthers last year when they reached the district finals and went to region. Phil Todd was the Panther coach then and now.
The similarities are striking, aren’t they?
For the record, Jeff Stamps, who later coached the Lady Rebels, was the Lady Panther coach. Besides Todd, Steenbergen and Kees, other team members included Denisha Moorman, Nikki Benton, Amy Chapa, Eva Miller and the Cowan sisters, Tiffany and Christie. Benton, Moorman and Tiffany Cowan were named all-district.
The three Kees granddaughters—Collier, Kees and Poindexter—were key parts of the Lady Panther softball team which made history last spring by winning the school’s first ever district championship. They beat Logan County in that close championship game, too. That trio of cousins/sisters had the top three batting averages and combined for 126 hits and 113 runs. RHS softball is coached by the school’s athletic director, Ryan Davenport, who coached them in basketball two years ago.
In 1999, Facebook didn’t exist and wouldn’t for another five years. This weekend Facebook is plush with pictures and posts praising the current Lady Panthers.
The community has been honoring the champs. Here are a couple of examples:
*Under the leadership of Jean Sosh Reynolds and Greg Owens, the Russellville Alumni Association gave flower arrangements to team members and provided lunch for them at Roy’s Bar-B-Que. The flowers were prepared by Oak ‘n’ Ivy’s Haley Jayne and Amy Thweatt Miller. Amy was an RHS cheerleader in 1999.
*RHS Hall of Famer Squeaky Hampton, who has opened 270 Buy/Rent/Sell in downtown Russellville, gave each of the girls a pair of athletic shoes from his stock.
Game time for the Lady Panthers at region is 4:30 p.m. today. Coach Orlando Hayden’s team plays 14th District runner-up Greenwood at Diddle Arena. The game will be broadcast on all of WRUS’ platforms.