After making history this week, the Russellville duo of Phil Todd and Pedro Bradshaw have garnered additional honors.
Tuesday in a game against the favorite to win the state championship—Bowling Green High, Bradshaw scored 23 points in a 93-74 loss. More significantly, he pulled down 13 rebounds.
According to Assistant Coach Ryan Davenport and WRUS Sports, that baker’s dozen of boards gives the Belmont University signee 1,107 rebounds, one more than the previous record holder in Panther basketball history.
The previous record holder? Phil Todd, Davenport’s coach throughout his four high school seasons.
The roles were reversed later in the week, however, when Todd tied for Fourth Region Coach of the Year while Bradshaw finished second in the voting for Player of the Year.
Todd tied for the coaching honor with Lex Lindsey, the former highly successful coach of the Franklin-Simpson Lady Kats, who previously worked as an assistant coach of the Logan County Lady Cougars under Mike Haynes and as an assistant to Tim Riley at Warren Central. Lindsey is in his first year as coach of the Allen County-Scottsville boys.
Phil Todd played basketball for Coach Mickey Meguiar’s Panthers from 1971-75. RHS won the district championship his last three seasons. He was runner-up for Basketball Player of the Decade for the Land of Logan in the 70s. He was also Player of the Decade in football and went on to become an All-OVC end at Austin Peay State University.
Defense and rebounding were his specialties on RHS basketball teams that included high scorers like Morris Kisselbaugh, Charlie Richardson, James Yarbrough, Forrest Killebrew, Willie Wells and sharpshooter Roger Daniel.
He has been head coach of Panther basketball two different times for a total of 19 years. By far the winningest coach in RHS basketball history with 320 victories, Phil Todd and his teams have reached the regional finals five times, winning three championships. His 2001 and ’02 teams advanced to back-to-back Final Fours in the Sweet Sixteen.
Todd is the only person to be named twice to the Russellville Athletic Association Athletic Hall of Fame, both as a coach and as a player.
But he’s no longer the all-time leading rebounder in RHS history. That honor belongs to DeAndre ‘Pedro’ Bradshaw, who added 18 boards to his total in an 80-46 thumping of South Warren Friday in the last home game ever for both Bradshaw and the retiring Coach Todd.
And after Tuesday, chances are that Bradshaw will be the leading scorer in Panther history. He scored 34 against Coach Nelson Cundiff’s Spartans Friday. He needs somewhere between 12 and 15 points to achieve that milestone. WRUS Sports says he went into Friday’s game trailing by 45 points. Coach Davenport, who has played a big role in Bradshaw’s development, had that number at 49.
The Panthers play Todd Central in their district tournament opener at Franklin Tuesday. Todd’s team has beaten the Rebels three times this season, twice in the regular season and once in the Class A regional championship game. In those games, which RHS has won by an average margin of 24.7 points, Bradshaw has averaged 20.7 points and 12.7 rebounds an outing against the Rebels. On the season he is averaging 21 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists per game.
The man he would leap over in the standings is Hall of Famer Maurice ‘Squeaky’ Hampton, who climbed to the top of the standings even though he was playing most of his career along with high scorers Michael Morris, Teco Dickerson and Nathan Thompson—all Hall of Famers. Hampton went on to a great career at APSU and in several seasons of international professional basketball.
Bradshaw placed second in regional all-star standings. The man he trailed is from his own district—Franklin Simpson’s Tavin Lovan. Finishing third was Pedro’s close friend and travel ball teammate, Terry Taylor of BGH.
It was announced this week that all three of them are finalists for Mr. Basketball.
Joining those three on the first team for the Fourth Region were Dawson Crump of Greenwood and Skyelar Potter of Warren Central. No player from a 15th of 16 district team made the first team.
Leading the second team voting was Bowling Green’s Deangelo Wilson, the son of former Logan County athletes Sue Miller and Dee Wilson.
Bradshaw’s Russellville teammate and classmate Jaylyn McMurry was named to the third team. He is averaging almost a double-double at 10 points and 8 rebounds an outing. He scored 12 against the Spartans.
No Logan County or Todd Central players were named.
On the girls’ side, South Warren’s Amaya Lasley was the only 14th District player to make the first team. MacKenzie Coleman of Metcalfe County was named MVP. In fact the top four players were from the 15th and 16 the District. Joining Coleman were Reagan Turner of Monroe County, Elli Bartley of Glasgow and Kailey Coffey of Russell County.
Loreal Cheaney of Russellville headlined the third team. Oshe Baker of Franklin was the only other 13th district lady to be named.
Monroe County’s Dwayne Murray was named Girls 4th Region Coach of the Year.
The Russellville and Logan County girls play each other in Tuesday’s other district game.