D.J. Quarles hit the free throws the Russellville Panthers needed Tuesday to advance to the 13^th District finals and the 4 ^th Region Tournament.
     The Lady Panthers found that 50-50 at the line is not enough to keep the season going.
     Quarles and fellow sophomore guard Damien Elam provided the points and ball-handling the Panthers needed to start the game and end it in Russellville’s 62-55 win over an inspired Todd Central team.
     Imani Hampton hit the second of two free throws twice during the final 36 seconds of overtime, and Amber Sydnor hit the first of two foul shots with 14.7 seconds remaining. But those ones of twos left the Lady Panthers two points short in Todd’s 38-36 win over RHS.
     The Lady Rebels went 4-0 against Coach Dedra Adler’s Lady Panthers this season, but two of the victories required a total of three overtimes. Another was by a single point in the finals of the Class A Classic regional.
     RHS started the game strong, just as it did in that Class A game. The Lady Panthers went up 8-5 with Nakia Daniel scoring all eight points. The lead reached 16-9 on a steal by Amber Sydnor, a free throw by Brittany Hampton, a drive through the Todd defense by Daniel, and the third 3-pointer of the half by Daniel, who had scored 13 points by the 4:30 mark of the second quarter.
     Two more points were all that the Lady Panthers could manage the rest of the half. After a couple of goals by Kalisha Rose and one by Kim Johnson tied it for Todd, Imani Hampton’s rebound shot with 46 seconds left gave Russellville an 18-16 lead at the half.
     The second half started well for the Panthers. Tameeka Rippy drew Evelyn Turner’s third foul (she had picked up two in the first two minutes of the game). Rippy hit both free throws. Then RHS senior Reagan Leavell scored on a rebound shot to give RHS a 22-16 lead. It was 24-19 when Rippy exploded through the lane for a goal.
     Turner’s six-footer at the buzzer cut the margin to 29-25 as the third quarter ended.
     The tone for the 50-50 free throw shooting to come was set when Brittany Hampton and Daniel each hit one of two attempts. Todd strong forward Holly Simons tied the game for the first time since 5-5 at 31-31. That came with 3:50 remaining, and no other points were scored in the last half of the fourth quarter.
      Shirley Case gave the Lady Rebels the lead at 33-31 immediately after the tipoff to start the overtime. Todd built a 37-33 lead on a goal by Taylor Snardon, who had entered the game after Simons fouled out. That proved to be all the points the Lady Rebels (14-10) would need.
     Simons scored 11 and Johnson 10 for Todd, which lost 45-25 to Franklin-Simpson in the championship game two nights later.
     Daniel led the Lady Panthers with 16 points. No one else had more than Imani Hampton’s 6. It was the final game for the lone senior Leavell, who became a full-time starter as a freshman.
     Russellville finished with a 13-14 record, 11-8 outside the district.
     “The bright spot for us is that they are a senior team and we are so young,” Coach Adler said. Simons, Johnson and Case-Todd’s top three scorers-are seniors.
Score by quarters:  1) RHS 8-7, 2) RHS 18-16, 3) RHS 29-25, 4) 31-31, Final)  Todd Central 38, Russellville 36
RHS (36)  Nakia Daniel 16, Imani Hampton 6, Tameeka Rippy 5, Amber Sydnor 4, Reagan Leavell 3, Brittany Hampton 2, Hoosier, Rose
TODD (38)  Holly Simons 11, Kim Johnson 10, Shirley Case 7, Evelyn Turner 4, Kalisha Rose 4, Taylor Snardon 2, Hilburn

     The Panthers had their guards up in this win. Damien Elam scored 10 of the Panthers’ first 14 points He also hit a basket on an assist from Trevor Clark when the Rebels were within a point late in the game.
     Quarles was willing to keep the ball in his hands in the crucial final two minutes of the Panthers’ 62-55 win. He scored seven of his team’s final nine points in those two minutes. The other basket came on a tip-in by Charleston Sydnor.
     Justin Bollenbecker scored 8 of his team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter. Six of points were on three-pointers. The other bucket came after a save by Elam.
     The Panthers looked like they were going to put the game away much earlier. Todd’s Robert Sargent, who was the game’s top scorer with 18 points, had scored 4 straight to tie things at 17-17.
     Devonta Bryant broke that tie, and then Clark scored five straight points to give his team breathing room at 24-17. Kevin Temple, who came off the bench to score 11 points, hit a 3-pointer with a second showing to make the halftime lead 27-19.
    When Bollenbecker swished a 3-pointer after a Bryant block at the other end, the Panthers were up 30-19. The victory seemed certain.
     Led by Deandre Mensah and Sargeant, the Rebels outscored the Panthers 14-5 to pull to within two. Temple hit a pair of big free throws. Mensah connected, Temple scored on a Clark assist, and Sargent duplicated Temple’s earlier feat by hitting a trey at the buzzer. The 11-point RHS lead was down to one going into the final period.
     Todd took its first lead at 42-40 on another Sargent 3-pointer, but Quarles hit a free-throw and Bollenbecker gave the Panthers the lead back with a three. Luke Perdue hit a trey, and Terrell Torian put Todd up one more time while the Rebels were controlling their offensive board.
     The Panthers went up for keeps when Clark got an offensive rebound and got the ball to Bollenbecker for another 3-pointer.
     That’s when Quarles took over.
     Four Panthers finished in double figures. In addition to Bollenbecker and Temple, they were Elam with 12 and Quarles with 10.
     Todd finished with a 10-16 record, 9-10 outside the district.
     Coach Dennis Pardue’s team set up its annual meeting with Franklin-Simpson in Friday’s championship game. A win there would be their 20 ^th of the season. The last time they played in Franklin, RHS won 54-52 on Sydnor’s rebound shot at the buzzer. F-S beat the Panthers in February 54-45 at Jim Young Gymnasium.
Score by quarters:  1) RHS 10-9, 2) 27-19, 3) 39-38, Final)  Russellville 62, Todd Central 55
TODD (55)  Robert Sargent 18, DeAndre Mensha 17, Paul Lacy 8, Luke Perdue 5, Terrell Torian 5, Jeffreu Boards 2, Majors
RHS (62)  Justin Bollenbecker 14, Damian Elam 12, Kevin Temple 11, D.J. Quarles 10, Trevor Clark 7, Charleston Sydnor 4, Devonta Bryant 4, Pardue, Neblett