The odds appeared to heavily lean in Logan County’s favor when it went to play cross-town rival Russellville Friday. The Lady Cougars are taller and much deeper than the Lady Panthers. They were coming off a game in which they had won a championship, crushing a team which had beaten RHS the night before.
None of that mattered to the Lady Panthers, who edged Logan 54-51 in front of a full house at Jim Young Gymnasium in their first Clash of the Cats of the season.
Senior Amber Sydnor and junior Khalia Hampton each hit a pair of free throws in the final 11 seconds to give the home the lead and some insurance. Logan’s best shooter, sophomore Meagann Hardison, got off a 3-point shot at the buzzer, but it didn’t fall.
Two years ago, the future was bright for the RHS girls. They had a dominant, athletic center in sophomore Kesi Neblett, a big freshman with big potential in Hampton, and one of their steadiest players ever in sophomore point guard Amber Sydnor, who was already a four-year starter. Neblett, however, gave up high school sports after that (she may be an even better volleyball player than roundballer) for the academic emphasis of the prestigious Gatton Academy at Western Kentucky University.
Sydnor and Hampton are living up to expectations, and the team has a number of role players. Yet practice is difficult, since only nine of the players are high school students. One of their coaches, Dedra or Todd Adler, has to practice with them just to have 10 on the floor.
There’s no substitute for heart, determination, courage and leadership, though, and the Lady Panthers demonstrated all that in Friday’s win.
“I am extremely pleased with our effort,” head coach Dedra Adler said. “Our seniors, Amber and Nathanshia (Haskins) stepped up big. They were not going home with anything less than a win. I know those two and Khalia did nearly all the scoring and the others missed a lot of free throws, but they did what we asked of them. They wouldn’t have taken all those foul shots if they hadn’t been taking the ball to the basket.”
The Lady Panthers hit just 11 of 25 free throws for the game, but Sydnor—now a six-year starter—was 7 of 8 at the line and Hampton 2 of 2. Hampton’s two gave the Lady Cougars the lead for keeps at 10.5 seconds. Logan turned the ball over quickly, had to foul again, and Sydnor padded the margin with 7.5 seconds showing on the clock.
Katelyn Jones had given the Lady Cougars (5-9) their last lead by hitting the second of two free throws with 36.0 seconds. Logan didn’t take the ball inside often, as their shooting only eight free throws attests.
“We expected them to double team (center Abby) Hinton, and they did. We knew that we could shake off one of those defenders by ball reversal,” said disappointed and frustrated Logan coach Scot MacAllister. “We did that in the first half, and she had 10 points. She scored on our second possession of the second half, and she never scored again. We quit doing what we had to do to get her the ball.”
Russellville (6-7) jumped out to a 15-8 lead with 8 of those points coming from Haskins, who had hit a pair of 3-pointers. The Lady Panthers led 18-11 after a quarter, but by halftime Logan led 26-24.
Part of Logan’s problems came when Hinton picked up her third foul with almost three minutes remaining in the third quarter. Hampton quickly scored two baskets to put RHS up 37-36 with two minutes remaining in the quarter. Hardison countered with a 3-pointer, and Hampton tied the game on a rebound bucket, her third straight goal. From that juncture on, the score was tied six times.
“We knew what to expect from them,” Adler said. “We expected them to put full-court pressure and a double team on Amber, and they did. We knew they would concentrate on Khalia, too, and they did. But we responded to it and won.”
Sydnor was about five points below her scoring average at 17, but Hampton had 21 and Haskins 14. Hardison led Logan with 19 points and Hinton had 12.
“Russellville out-played us all night long. They did a great job, busting their tails,” Coach MacAllister said. “We did not. We spent all week talking about how hard Russellville was going to play. We told them we couldn’t look at their picture or their record and know how tough a team we were going to play.
“They crunched us in the mouth and we took it. We never responded.”
Score by quarters: 1) RHS 18-11, 2) LCHS 26-24, 3) 39-39, Final) Russellville 54, Logan County 51
LCHS (51) Meagann Hardison 19, Abby Hinton12, Kapreshia Powell 9, Megan Lindsey 6, Rachel Barnett 4, Katelyn Jones 1, Laura Hunt, Taleia Mason, Victoria Cates, Madison Alvis
RHS (54) Khalia Hampton 21, Amber Sydnor 17, Nathanshia Haskins 14, Devonna Sydnor 2, Davonya Bryant, Shea Hampton, Addie Henley, Faith Morris, Reagan Wilkerson