Trailing by a point going into the fourth quarter, the Russellville Panthers took over the fourth quarter on the way to an 80-66 win over Logan County for third place in the First Southern National Bank Christmas Classic Saturday night at LCHS.
Sophomore Coco Darden hit a pair of three-pointers (his fourth and fifth of the game) and also put together a 3-point play to break open a close game in the final eight minutes. He finished with 22 points.
Coach Phil Todd’s Panthers had led most of the way, including 24-17 after a quarter and 44-33 at halftime. The Panthers stalled the ball the last 39 seconds of the half before Barrett Croslin sank a contested long-distance bomb at the buzzer.
Led by J.R. Morrow’s scoring and passing, the Cougars came back in the third period for a 26-16 margin. Morrow scored on a steal, hit another shot, and then fired two straight assists for 3-point plays, one on a long-range shot by Landon Stratton and the other on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Ben Wright. Stratton scored seven points in the final two minutes of the quarter, the last on a fast break at the buzzer to put his team ahead 59-58 going into the final period.
Taylor Blakemore hit a free throw to start the fourth period and Clint Knight blocked a Panther shot, but that was it for the Cougars. RHS took the lead on a Darden trey and never looked back. Christian Naylor scored six quick points to make the lead 74-63 with 2:15 remaining. Stratton sank a 3-pointer for the Cougars, but then Darrion Quarles added a 3-point play on an assist from Darden to put the outcome out of doubt.
Center Jordan Kennedy, who started the tournament slowed by illness, was effective all night for the Panthers. He finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Naylor added 13 points and Croslin 10. Rebounding was about even with Wright getting 11 and Blakemore 10 for the Cougars. Logan may have lost the game at the foul line, hitting just 12 of 27 freebies despite Wright going 7 of 9.
Logan was 7 of 14 from 3-point range, including 3 of 4 by Stratton. Russellville was just 9 of 25 outside the arc. The Cougars made 19 turnovers, 7 more than the Panthers.
For Logan, Wright was the game’s top scorer with 23 and Stratton added 21.
The two teams will meet again next week at RHS in a girl-boy doubleheader.
Score by quarters: 1) RHS 24-17, 2) RHS 42-33, 3) LCHS 59-58, Final) Russellville 80, Logan County 66
RHS (80) Ben Wright 23, Landon Stratton 21, Torin Grahm 9, Taylor Blakemore 4, Clint Knight 4, Tahmir Graham, Tucker Baldwin, Ryan Basham, Adam Wilkins, Chris Neal, John Wilson Coots, Cody McLellan
LCHS (66) Coco Darden 22, Jordan Kennedy 19, Christian Naylor 13, Barrett Croslin 10, Josh Hampton 8, Darrion Quarles 7, Lee McMurry 1, DeQuan Beard
The LoJo
On Friday, the Panthers lost 84-75 to a good Louisville Doss team, which beat University Heights 80-73 for the FSNB Classic championship Saturday. For RHS Kennedy had 21, Hampton 18, Naylor 16, Croslin 11, Quarles 5 and Darden 4.
Doss was led by Dujunta Weaver with 32. Montrell Little scored 16 while eight other guys scored.
The LoJo
Despite their most experienced players being out or subpar, the RHS boys jumped out to a 27-10 first quarter lead and impressively beat South Warren 59-34 Thursday. Croslin had 17 points, Hampton 13, and Naylor and Quarles 9 each. Zach Hines is sidelined with a broken wrist and leading scorer Kennedy has been sick with the flu. Austin Bybee had 10 and Drew Wilken 8 for South, which went on to beat Spring Hill, Tenn. and Caldwell County 62-41 for fifth place.