A game that was tight throughout went down to the wire Friday before the Russellville Lady Panthers pulled off a huge upset, knocking off visiting Logan County 55-53 in one of the most impressive wins in Coach Calvin Head’s career.
The Lady Cougars came into the district Clash of the Cats with a 17-4 record, including 4-0 in the 13th District. They had lost only one game in the past 51 days. Make it two in 52.
When senior floor leader Devonya Bryant fouled out with 1:11 left in the game, her Lady Panthers trailed 51-50 and were without one of their top scorers. But her replacement, senior Reagan Wilkerson, who had not been a factor in the game at all, coolly sank a 3-pointer from the right corner to give the home team the lead for good.
Turnovers and free throws—mostly missed free throws—prolonged the outcome. Loreal Cheaney made a steal for RHS and hit a free throw with 6.6 seconds to make it 54-52.
A second later, Logan’s Ann-Meguiar Bouldin hit a free throw to pull her team within a point of overtime. But her second free throw rimmed out, and Cheaney added another point to the final margin a second later, also going one of two.
Bouldin was playing in the gym where her granddad, Mickey Meguiar, coached the Panthers to five district championships and then served as its principal during the greatest years of RHS basketball. Cheaney is the daughter of Sarah Higgins Cheaney, who starred for the Lady Cougars and was a Kentucky All-Star. The player who kept the Lady Cougars in contention in the fourth quarter, Cierra Johnson, is the daughter of Kandi Chyle Slaton, who played for the Lady Panthers in the early 90s. When these two schools play Clashes, the family histories sometimes don’t correspond with the current uniforms.
Missing a free throw in this game was the norm. Logan County hit a frigid 11 of 27 from the line, including just 7 of 18 in the fourth quarter. Russellville wasn’t much better, hitting 13 of 30, including 6 of 13 in the final stanza. So, it’s ironic that the two winning points were free throws by Cheaney, who did hit 5 of 9 at the line in the final eight minutes and 9 of 18 for the game.
Logan looked like it would win with ease in the first quarter. The Lady Cougars were up 13-7 after a quarter with Brooke Barnes scoring six and Taleia Mason 5. But RHS worked itself back into contention. Cheaney hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in the half, and Bryant’s steal resulted in a free throw that tied the score at 24-24 at halftime.
The Lady Cougars scored the first six points of the third quarter on goals by Rachel Barnett and Bouldin plus a free throw each by Mason and Torrie Pollard.
With her team falling behind again, Russellville’s Gabby Poirier took over for the rest of the quarter. She hit a pair of 3-pointers and a field goal, as the Lady Panthers took their first lead at 31-30. That was the first of six lead changes in the game.
It appeared that Johnson was going to lead Logan to victory late in the game. She scored on an assist from Mason and—after a goal by Meguiar—Johnson popped in a 3-pointer and scored on an assist from Hines to make it 50-42 for the largest lead of the second half with 2:20 left. The Lady Cougars, however, managed only three more points the rest of the game.
In addition to Cheaney and Wilkerson, Deshala LeBlanc contributed points to the comeback.
“I’m very proud of the collective team effort. The girls remained poised throughout the entire game and continued to fight through and respond to the LC runs,” Coach Head said. “We had players step up and make winning plays all night. Bryant, LeBlanc, and Cheaney showed why they are top district players and kept our team dialed in throughout the night.
“The heart this team showed was absolutely amazing. We want to build off of this as we begin preparing for postseason play!”
In addition to poor free throw shooting, a huge factor in Russellville’s win/Logan’s loss was Pollard being shut down. The senior guard almost always has big numbers in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots, but Head ran a box-and-one defense on her. Addie Hendley—considerably shorter than Pollard but deceptively tough—wouldn’t let Pollard out of her reach. And the Lady Cougars didn’t make the needed effort to free her. Pollard finished with just three points, all on free throws, and two rebounds. She did manage eight deflections and three steals before fouling out.
Both team’s centers were injured in the second half, with Tiffany Gray going down for Russellville and Barnes for Logan, but both were able to return to the floor later. {Barnes, however, was unable to play the following night when the Lady Cougars lost 62-42. Without her clogging the middle, Lady Scotties star Bri Glover scored 34 points. Jessica Hines, who got the start in Barnes’ absence, led Logan in scoring with nine in that game.}
In the Clash for Logan, Mason scored 16 points, Johnson 12 and Barnes 10. Barnett and Barnes each pulled down 8 rebounds. Mason had 4 each of assists and steals. For the winners, four players scored in double figures with Cheaney scored 16, Bryant 12, and LeBlanc and Poirier 11 each.
With the win, the Lady Panthers improved to 11-11 overall and 2-3 in the district. They can clinch third place seeding in the tournament with a second win over Todd Central Friday. If Todd wins, a tiebreaker will be needed.
Logan is 4-1 in the district, but must beat visiting Franklin-Simpson Tuesday to secure the top seed. A loss to Franklin would create a tie with the Lady Cats for first.
Last Tuesday, Russellville led F-S at the half only to lose 39-32. Bryant and LeBlanc each scored 12 in that one. Lady Wildcats Jessie Beller and Osheonna Baker dominated the boards for Coach David Clark’s team, a major factor in the win.
Score by Quarters: 1) LCHS 13-7, 2) 24-24, 3) LCHS 36-35, Final) Russellville 55, Logan County 53
LCHS (53) Taleia Mason 16, Cierra Johnson 12, Brooke Barnes 10, Rachel Barnett 7, Ann-Meguiar 5, Torrie Pollard 3, Jessica Hines, Abi Lindsey
RHS (55) Loreal Cheaney 16, Devonya Bryant 12, Deshale LeBlanc 11, Gabbi Poirier 11, Reagan Wilkerson 3, Jolanda Wells 2, Addie Hendley, Tiffany Gray