At some juncture of the second half during Saturday’s Clash of the Cats at Logan County High School, each team realized their best chance for success was to take the ball inside, instead of firing up long balls.
Logan County guards Lorenzo Garcia, Noah Whittinghill and Austin Rayno all had success posting up under the goal during streaks, but none of them has inside height or bulk.
On the other hand, the much taller Russellville Panthers were better equipped to play in the lane. That paid off for Coach Phil Todd’s team, which came back from a slight fourth-quarter deficit to win the Clash 59-47 and break a three-game losing streak to the Cougars.
Center Pedro Bradshaw, one of the highest rated players in the region, scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win. They came from either the lane or the foul line.
Early in the game, it appeared the Panthers would win with ease. The first six RHS points came on pair of 3-pointers by freshman guard Jacob Naylor, and his brother Micah’s trey with 1:53 plus a 3-point play by Jaylin McMurry built a lead, and Micah’s goal early in the second quarter doubled the score at 16-8. Goals by Shon Kees and Micah Naylor kept the margin at eight, 21-13.
Rayno, the sophomore point guard, passed up long shots that weren’t falling and started penetrating. After his successful drive and his 10-footer, the Panther lead was reduced to 24-21 at the half.
Whittinghill sank a 3-pointer to tie the score at 24-24 just 18 seconds into the second half. The game was tied four more times before Garcia hit a 3-pointer on a cross-court assist by Rayno to give the Cougars their first lead of the second half at 37-35 with 1:15 left in the third quarter.
Coach Lonnie Mason’s team took its last lead at 39-37 to start the final stanza when backup center Sedale Shannon put in a rebound of his own miss.
The Panthers scored the next seven points. Bradshaw hit a free throw for RHS, Logan’s Garcia missed a post-up shot, Paul Jones hit a 14-footer from the corner, Rayno’s driving shot didn’t fall, and Bradshaw scored on a post-up move in the lane to put Russellville up 44-39. In the process, Logan’s Garrison Rosser picked up his third and fourth fouls. Rosser couldn’t get shots to fall, but he had been playing rugged defense.
Mykal Hampton’s goal cut the Panther lead to 46-43, but Bradshaw hit two straight shots—the second on a McMurry assist, and Shon Kees stuck a rebound back in to build the lead to 52-43 with only 2:10 remaining. Logan never got closer than seven points after that.
McMurry finished with 16 points and Bradshaw added 14. Micah Nayloradded 10 for the winners.
Whittinghill (18), Garcia (15) and Rayno(9) scored all but five of the Cougars’ points. Thirteen of Garcia’s points came in the third quarter. The Cougar offense clicked most effectively when Rayno was at the point.
Logan starts a four-guard offense. Will Bingham was the starting center. Jack Wright and Shannon also were used in that position. Coach Mason also tried Hampton and Taylor Owens at forward.
Russellville improved to 9-2 overall and 2-0 in the 13th District. Logan fell to 5-7 and 1-2.
The teams will meet again at Jim Young Gymnasium Feb. 5.
Score by Quarters: 1) RHS 16-8, 2) 21-21) 3) 37-37 Final) Russellville 59, Logan County 47
RHS (59) Jaylin McMurry 16, Pedro Bradshaw 14, Micah Hampton 10, Shon Kees 7, Jacob Naylor 6, Paul Jones 4, Jason Mitchell 2, Ricky Bellamy
LCHS (47) Noah Whittinghill 18, Lorenzo Garcia 15, Austin Rayno 9, Mykal Hampton 2, Sedale Shannon 2, Jack Wright 1, Garrison Rosser, Will Bingham, Taylor Owens