Running at every opportunity, the quicker Russellville Panthers blistered Allen County-Scottsville 67-56 in the first round of the 4^th  Region Tournament at Diddle Arena Saturday.
     AC-S was much taller than the Panthers, especially since Russellville’s tallest player, Justin Bollenbecker, was sporting a neck brace and the blackest of eyes following a traffic accident a week earlier.
     Coach Dennis Pardue countered by having his Panthers push the ball upcourt incessantly. For a while in the first half, it looked like Allen County might run past the Panthers at their own game. The Patriots beat the Panthers to the basket on repeated run-outs in the second quarter, often set up by an RHS turnover or AC-S rebound.
     Patriots Caleb Carver and Anthony Graves would release as soon as Panther shots went up, and often beat the RHS defense back for quick buckets.
     Part of the problem for Russellville in the first half was center Trevor Clark’s early foul problems. Clark, the indispensable Panther, had hit a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer to tie the score at 12-12. With 5:04 showing on the second-quarter clock, he picked up his second foul 90 feet away from the Patriot basket. Playing without Clark the remainder of the half, the Panthers fell behind 32-24 with 1:32 remaining. Devonta Bryant’s goal cut the Patriot lead to six at the half.
     Kevin Temple had come off the RHS bench to keep his team in the game. The sophomore hit 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range in the first half, piling up 11 of the 26 points. He was named Player of the Game.
     Russellville had already forced the 15^th District champions into 10 of their 22 turnovers in the first half.  The winners made only 13 floor errors for the game, 7 in the first half. On the other hand, AC-S had a 19-13 rebounding margin at the break.
     The Panthers opened the second half with a flurry, taking the lead with sophomore guard D.J. Quarles making a steal and getting the ball to Clark for a layup, putting their team up 37-36.
     Patriot big man Phillip Hayes gave AC-S the edge when he hit two straight 18-footers to make it 40-37. Charleston Sydnor hit a shot, and then Clark and Temple hit a pair of 3-pointers. When Temple scored on an assist from Quarles, Russellville led 47-43. RHS had outscored the favorites 21-11 to start the half.
     AC-S benefited from a controversial charging call on the sideline against Damian Elam, and Carver hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 48-48 entering the final stanza.
     Temple’s final goal of the game gave the Panthers the lead for keeps at 50-48. Russellville outscored Allen County 9-1 to end the game. Quarles made sure he had the ball in his hands in the clutch-just as he did in a close win over Todd Central in the district opener-and went to the line three times in a 50-second span to seal the win.
     The Panthers outscored Coach Scott Shelton’s Patriots (21-11) 19-7 in the fourth quarter as the Panthers’ press and push paid off. Carver scored 15, Kevin Bunton 13 and Hayes 10 for the Patriots, who finished with only a 33-32 rebound margin despite their decided height advantage. In the loss, AC-S hit just 1 of 10 attempts from 3-point distance.
    Russellville, on the other hand, hit 7 of 16 treys but just 6 of 15 free throws.
    Temple was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points, followed by Clark with 15 and Quarles with 14. Sydnor came off the bench to get 9 points and 7 rebounds. Elam had 7 rebounds, 6 points, 6 assists and 2 steals.
     Depth paid off for the Panthers, as shown in their dominance over a tired opponent in the fourth quarter. Four Patriots played 25 or more minutes. Only one Panther, Elam, topped that mark.
     The Panthers improved their record to 20-8 going into Monday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinals against Bowling Green, which survived a triple overtime effort by decided underdog Cumberland County by a point in the opener.
     BGH (24-6) beat visiting RHS 59-50 on Feb. 17.
Score by quarters: 1)  AC-S 14-12, 2) 32-26, 3) 48-48 Final)  Russellville 67, Allen County-Scottsville 55
RHS (67)  Kevin Temple 16, Trevor Clark 15, D.J. Quarles 14, Charleston Sydnor 9, Damian Elam 6, Devonta Bryant 5, Kamero Neblett 2, Pardue, Bibb, Woodard, Watkins, T. Hampton, V. Hampton, Harris 
AC-S (55)  Caleb Carver 15, Kevin Bunton 13, Phillip Hayes 10, Graves 8, Jeskie 7, Napier 2