A pair of winnable games against good teams slipped away from host Russellville in the Class A Fourth Region Tournament Wednesday and Thursday.
The Lady Panthers spotted the Glasgow girls a huge lead and couldn't quite recover Wednesday. The Panthers got off to a great start, stumbled in the
middle of the game, caught up and then lost by three points.
Glasgow not only advanced to Friday's championship games but got to play them at home with both Russellville teams eliminated. The Scotties and Lady
Scotties both won and are headed to the state Class A Classic at Eastern Kentucky University this week.
Glasgow 53, Panthers 50
Russellville started strong, behind a pair of 3-pointers by Trevor Clark from the same angle that he had hit the game-winner a few days earlier at
Logan County. The Panther lead was 14-9 after a quarter.
Devonta Bryant's rebound shot raised the lead to 16-9, and the Panthers seemed ready to blow the visitors out. Instead the Scotties scored 12 of the
game's next 13 points before Victor Hampton got a shot to fall for the Panthers on an assist from Damien Elam. Glasgow led 24-21 at the half.
The Scotties built a 31-23 lead on a 3-pointer by highly regarded guard Cameron Hall, but baskets by Elam, Hampton and Clark cut the lead to two.
Glasgow led 38-35 as the third quarter ended.
Russellville regained the lead twice, at 40-39 on foul shots by Elam and 41-40 on a free throw by Kevin Temple. The final tie came at 43-43 on a basket
by D.J. Quarles, assisted by Bryant with 3:50 remaining.
Rebound buckets by Parker Cash and Karrington Bradley gave the Scotties a 49-43 lead with 1:49, but Elam put together a 3-pointer, and Temple hit a
free throw. After Hall's foul shots made it 51-47, Quarles hit a 3-pointer with 22.6 seconds to cut the margin to one.
Russellville had a chance to win when Glasgow's Dean Glass missed a pair of free throws with 10.7 seconds left, but Hampton and Elam missed close in
shots, seeming to get entangled with each other, and Glasgow survived.
Quarles was Russellville's only double-figure scorer with 13 points along with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Clark had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocked
shots. Elam added 7 points 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
By switching up quicker defenders on him, the Panthers held Hall to 18 points, about two-thirds of his average. Cash scored 10 points and had 8
rebounds while Michael Bradley added 8 points and 11 boards.
The Panthers didn't shoot well, hitting just a third of their shots, They were 10 of 15 at the line and 4 of 17 on 3-pointers. Glasgow, however, was an
atrocious 9 of 23 at the foul line.
Score by quarters: 1) RHS 14-9, 2) GHS 26-21, 3) GHS 38-35, Final) Glasgow 53, Russellville 50
GHS (53) Cameron Hall 18, Parker Cash 10, Karrington Bradley 9, Michael Bradley 8, Dean Glass 8
RHS (50) D.J. Quarles 13, Trevor Clark 8, Kevin Temple 8, Damien Elam 7, Victor Hampton 6, Devonta Bryant 5, Justin Bollenbecker 3, Pardue
Glasgow 65, Lady Panthers 50
The Lady Scotties roared out to a 20-3 lead after a quarter. Nakia Daniel's 3-pointer at the 3:30 mark was the only time RHS could get the ball to go
through the basket. The second quarter was played on even terms, even though Glasgow got off to a 35-11 start. When Imani Hampton connected on an
assist from Amber Sydnor, the Scotties' lead was reduced to 36-18 at the half. Freshman point guard Kelsey Greer already had 15 points for Glasgow.
The Lady Panthers played much better in the third quarter with Nikki Rose providing some spark off the bench. Hampton's rebound goal pulled the home
team to within single digits at 39-30. Consecutive goals by Sydnor cut the lead to five, as the Lady Panthers put together a 16-3 run.
Shelby Ray hit a 3-pointer for Glasgow, but Tameeka Rippy responded with one for the Lady Panthers. GHS led 49-37 going into the final quarter.
Birtttany Hampton scored, Sydnor put together a basket and a free throw, and Daniel bombed from long range to cut the Lady Scotties' lead to six at
56-50 with 3:14 remaining again. No one knew it then, but those were to be Russellville's final points of the game.
Daniel finished with 16 points and Sydnor 14 for the home team. Greer scored 22, Ray 16 and Shalice Smith 10 for the winners, who ran their record to
12-5.
Score by quarters: 1) GHS 20-3, 2) 36-18, 3) 49-37, Final) Glasgow 65, Russellville 50
GHS (65) Kelsey Greer 22, Shelby Ray 16, Shalice Smith 10, Perkins 8, Williams 8, Elmore 1
RHS (50) Nakia Daniel 16, Amber Sydnor 14, Brittany Hampton 7, Tameeka Rippy 7, Imani Hampton 4, Kesi Neblett 2, Rose