On perhaps the best night of the season (so far) for teams from the Land of Logan Friday, three teams got important district wins and the fourth laid the foundation for continued competitive balance. Both Logan County teams were winners, as were the Russellville Panthers, while the Lady Panthers may have had the most impressive performance of the evening, despite losing on the scoreboard.
Girls
Franklin-Simpson 47, Russellville 41
The only consistent winner among 13th District teams has been the Franklin-Simpson girls. Coach Josh Matthews’ team won its ninth straight game, beating the Lady Panthers 47-41. The Lady Cats are now 14-2 overall, 8-2 in the region, 2-0 in the district.
Still, this was the closest thing to a moral victory the Lady Panthers could hope for. Coach Justin McClellan’s team has won only one game, and many of the losses have been lopsided. Yet the margin of victory was the third smallest of the season to date for F-S. The other two have been by four and three points to Monroe County, which has won 10 games already this year.
The Lady Panthers led 12-11 after a quarter, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Khalia Hampton and a stingy defense bolstered by Devonna Sydnor and Shea Hampton. The Lady Cats took the lead in the second, as veteran Sydney Gooch came to life, but their lead was only 23-20 at the break. Gooch was 7 of 11 from the field at halftime while her teammates were 2 of 17.
Franklin added only a point to the margin in the third quarter. For Russellville, Hampton scored on an assist from Davonte Bryant. Then Loreal Chaney blocked a shot on the other end. The Lady Cats led 33-28 going into the final period.
Jenna Curtis hit her second 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and Keely Morrow scored 4 of her 13 points in that final eight minutes. Gooch finished with 22 points.
For RHS, Hampton scored 10 of her game-high 26 points in the final period, including hitting half of her four treys in the period. Chaney finished with 10 points by hitting 8 of 10 free throws.
Logan County 39, Todd Central 34
The Lady Cougars’ sixth win in their last seven starts didn’t come as easily as did their 50-34 romp over the Lady Rebels’ a week earlier, but the victory gave Coach Finley Woodard’s team a 3-1 district record with only two games to go in the league.
Logan led 15-12 after a quarter, the margin coming on a 3-pointer by Kapreshia Powell. Senior post player Katelyn Jones had nine points in the quarter. The second period was low-scoring. Powell hit a free throws while Taleia Mason and Rachel Barnett scored a basket each on drives for the Lady Cougars’ only points. Todd, however, managed only two points in that eight minutes, those coming on a pair of free throws by Markizjah Mimms.
Coach Steve Phillips’ Lady Rebels came back from the intermission energized and took the lead at 25-24, but Deja Thompson’s 3-point play put Logan ahead at 27-25. Powell’s free throws made it 29-25 at the half. Thompson hurt her knee early in the fourth quarter.
Savannah Foister hit a 3-pointer for Todd to pull within 33-30, but Mason’s second impressive drive made the margin five. Yet Todd’s Alicia Salazaar hit a basketball and Mimms a pair of free throws to cut it to one with 1:06 remaining. Todd never scored again. Megan Lindsay made the lead two with a free throw, Jones got a strong rebound, Laura Hunt hit a pair of free throws and Jones another for the final scoring.
Jones finished with 14 points and Powell had 11 for the winners. Mimms led Todd with 12 points while Foister adedd 11 and Salazaar 7.
Franklin is 2-0 in the district, Logan 3-1, Todd 1-2 and Russellville 0-3.
Boys
Logan County 76, Todd Central 63
The Cougars blew open a close game open in the fourth quarter to avenge a six-point loss to the Rebels a week earlier. Logan trailed 32-29 at the half, and prospects were dampened when leading scorer Ben Wright drew his third foul with five seconds showing on the clock.
Logan took the lead at 41-40 on a goal by Landon Stratton. Taylor Blakemore tipped in a rebound with 34 seconds left in the third quarter, and Stratton scored with five seconds to make it 45-40 going into the final period. That lead grew to 14, but Coach Calvin Head’s Rebels roared back to cut the margin to 56-50. After all, they were coming off impressive back-to-back wins over the Cougars and South Warren.
The Cougars responded on two quick goals by Blakemore, one on an assist by Garrison Rosser. Jon Michael Brown, who scored 61 points in eight days against the Cougars, hit another 3-pointer for Todd. Stratton scored for Logan, Dylan Wilkerson popped in a pair of free throws for Todd, but the Cougars’ Wright hit a pair of free throws on Gary Moore’s fifth foul. J.R. Morrow and Blakemore hit two more free throws each, Blakemore scored on a Stratton assist, and Tucker Baldwin converted a steal into a goal to make it 72-63 to seal the win.
Blakemore scored 20 points and added 15 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot. Stratton, who was feared lost for the season after reinjuring a knee against Todd a week earlier, fashioned his second 20-point game in four days. He added a pair each of assists and steals. Wright scored 13 points and contributed 9 rebounds. Morrow was in double-figure scoring for the second straight game with 11, plus 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Rosser had 5 assists.
Brown was 6 of 11 from 3-point range in scoring 30 for the Rebels. Treva Dayton scored 10 points and added 4 assists and 2 steals. Wilkerson totaled 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Jeremiah Sims led the Rebels with 7 rebounds.
In winning their fourth game—and more importantly second district game, Coach Lonnie Mason’s Cougars had a 33-21 rebounding margin and a 13-8 assist margin.
Russellville 61, Franklin-Simpson 49
Coach Phil Todd’s Panthers moved their district record to 2-1 with the homecoming win.
Lee McMurray scored 8 of the Panthers’ first 12 points, and RHS led 15-10 at the first stop. McMurry’s free throw with 20 seconds gave Russellville a 28-20 lead at halftime.
The Panthers built their lead to 18 in the third quarter at 46-28. Coach Dee Spencer’s Wildcats reduced that margin in the fourth quarter, but freshman Pedro Rivera made the home team’s lead 15 with 1:30 remaining. That sealed the deal.
McMurry finished with 19 points, Barrett Croslin 18 and Rivera 13. Freshman Micah Naylor scored five points in the fourth quarter. At times, Coach Todd had two sets of brothers on the court at the same time—Christian and Micah Naylor and Lee and Jaylin McMurry. Croslin hit a trio of 3-pointers.
The game marked the return of two players who have been injured throughout the season, RHS junior Coco Darden and F-S sophomore Jordan Holt.
Freshman phenom Tavin Lovan had 22 points for the Cats and captain Demaris Payne contributed 12. Holt was the only other Cat to score more than two points; he had 7.
Russellville is now 2-1 in the district, Logan 2-2, Franklin 1-1, and Todd 1-2. The district tournament will be played at LCHS.