The first three weeks of high school basketball have given every indication that this is going to be one of the best seasons overall here in a while. The Russellville Panthers and Logan County Lady Cougars are off to great starts, both having one of the top three records in the region for their genders in the early going.
The Bowling Green Daily News has the Panthers ranked third in the region and first in the 13th District. The apparent loss of Franklin-Simpson standout Terry Bryant for the season made a veteran Panther squad a favorite in this district, even though Coach David Clark's Wildcats impressive win over powerful Bowling Green last week served notice that F-S won't relinquish its crown without a fight.
Franklin-Simpson Coach Lex Lindsey, a former LCHS assistant himself, has called Coach Scot MacAllister's Lady Cougars the most improved girls team in the region.
The Russellville Lady Panthers lost only one starter from last year, and Nakia Daniel, who has been a starter for six seasons, was a preseason All-Southcentral first-team selection in one area magazine. Their 66-60 win over Warren Central gives Coach 
Dedra Adler's Ladies credibility as a team to be reckoned with.
And now the Logan County Cougars, after two miserable seasons, appear to be ready to contend in every game in which they play. Coach Harold Tackett's Cougars won over Warren East 60-54 in the second game of the season, an eye-opener. It was the first time Logan had beaten a 14th District team since a 59-55 win at Bowling Green on Jan. 14, 2006 when this year's seniors were in the eighth grade. Logan, which played only one Warren County opponent last year, had still lost nine straight to 14th District opponents.
Added to Logan's credibility is a 70-49 win at Bardstown last week. This team is learning how to complete. Relinquishing a big lead in a four-point loss to Todd Central Friday shows the Cougars still have to learn how to close out a win, but Tackett is definitely making progress in that area.
All four local teams will be in action in the fifth First Southern National Bank-Roy's Bar-B-Que Classic the week after Christmas. In fact, you can see one of the most highly regarded players in the state when Elliott County brings junior center Timmy Knipp to the Cougar gym Dec. 28. Elliott County was one of the highest scoring teams in Kentucky last year and made it to the state semifinals.
                                                                        The LoJo
Russellville football fans can be forgiven for thinking about what might haave been. The Paducah Tilghman team which the Panthers dominated everywhere but the scoreboard in the regional finals at Rhea Stadium went on not only to win the state championship but do it convincingly.
The Blue Tornado won 21-0, shutting out a Somerset team that was averaging 39.4 points per game. If you recall, Tilghman had edged RHS 21-14 two weeks earlier, scoring on the long return of a fumble recovery late in the game. Tilghman forced previously undefeated Somerset into seven turnovers in the state finals.
A reminder of the RHS-Tighman game: Despite maintaining control of the ball 23 of the first 32 minutes, including 17 of 20 minutes during the middle of the game, Russellville led only 14-7 when Paducah Tilghman intercepted a Panther pass with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter. During that classic control of the clock the Panthers had taken 41 snaps, the Blue Tornado 19.
There's more. The Panthers had the ball for 28 and a half minutes during the game while Tilghman was in control only 19 and a half minutes.
Russellville ran 54 plays, counting four punts in the game. Tilghman's center hiked the ball just 37 times.
The Panthers piled up 13 first downs and the visitors just 7. And still Tilghman won. Think of what might have been!
                                                                        The LoJo
In this remarkable athletic autumn that Greenwood High School has enjoyed (regional championships in volleyball and both boys and girls soccer), there were local connections when the football Gators made it to the state Class 6A semifinals.
One of the key players was Zachary Pillow, the grandson of Jocille Pillow and the late Joe Pillow of Russellville. The junior defensive end is the son of former Panther standout center Hayden Pillow.
A star of the team was Jeremy James, nephew of Auburn Elementary teacher Karen Hughes. His uncle, Gary Hughes, is a former pastor of Auburn Baptist Church.
Gary shares Jeremy's lineage with readers of The LoJo:: "Mother: Amy Cohron James; Grandmother: Mary Herndon Cohron (born in Auburn); Great-Grandmother and Grandfather: Boyce and Ida Walton Herndon (lifelong residents of Auburn) Jeremy is a descendent of Capt. James Herndon (Revolutionary War vet) who was one of two people to survey and lay out the road between Russellville and Adairville."
                                                                        The LoJo
The son of a graduate of LCHS had an outstanding football had an outstanding football season in Tennessee. Former Lady CougarRenee Flowers' son DaJuan Brown made the 7-AAA all district team while playing for Blackman High School in Murfreesboro.. He also was selected to play in the Tennessee East/West All Star game Saturday, Dec 13 in Jefferson  City at Carson Newman College. His cousin-- former RHS and Centre College basketball standout T.C. Thomason, his sister Janaye Flowers, and his mom attended.
DaJuan played tight end and defensive end. His team's record was 10-2 and won the district championship for the first time in the school's history. They made it to the second round of the playoffs before being defeated.
                                                                        The LoJo
R.B. Mays , a former teacher and coach at Logan County High School, is now principal at Graves County High School, his alma mater. Mays, who also served as pastor of Gaspar River Presbyterian Church here, was the athletic director who hired LCHS graduate Lance Gregory to be head football coach at the school before moving into the principalship.
R.B. never became a head basketball coach, one of his goals, but he coached Todd Central to the only 13th District baseball championship won in this decade by any school other than LCHS or Franklin-Simpson. He was also AD when Graves County made its run to the Final Four at the boys state basketball tournament a few years ago.
This football season Graves County, playing in the big schools 6A classification, finished 7-4 and earned a home playoff game, but lost 31-14 to Nelson County in Gregory's first playoff game as head coach.
                                                                        The LoJo
One thing I try to do is keep readers notified of what is going on in local sports while it is happening through Facebook. Former Bowling Green Daily News Sports Editor Joe Medley, who is now sports columnist for the Anniston News in Alabama, didn't know that Rhea Stadium is the home of Ken Barrett Field until he read a note I had written. He says, "Reading Ken Barrett's name brought back neat memories ... like the state semifinal game against Paris on that very field. A 20-6 deficit became a 24-20 victory very quickly. (John) Markham, (Darwin) Washington and (Phillip) West got it done, if memory serves."
He was referring to the 1987 state semifinal game that sent Barrett's Panthers to state for the third time in eight seasons. It came during first of Joe's nine years at the Daily News. In the 20-plus years that have followed, he has covered countless big events, including Auburn University sports regularlaly. Yet he remembers the names and scores from a Panther high school football game. Joe Medley is one of the really good guys in sports writing.