Exactly a week after shooting only 11 free throws in a district loss to Logan County, the Russellville Panthers shot 37 Friday, hitting 28 in a district win over Todd Central. Both games were at the Panthers’ Jim Young Gymnasium.
As a result of its 88-77 win over Todd Central, the Panthers go into the 13th District Tournament as the number two seed. Coach Phil Todd’s team has the same 4-2 record as Logan County, but the Cougars are the top seed after having won twice over RHS.
Three days earlier, the Panthers had been blown out 96-62 at home by the region’s top team, Warren Central.
On this night, however, the Panthers had their offense going in winning fashion, especially in the second half.
Todd Central held the advantage in the first half. Coach Calvin Head’s team led 21-20 after a quarter and 39-28 at halftime. But RHS dominated the second half, taking the third quarter 34-15 and adding three points to the margin in the final period
The Rebels lived by the 3-pointer, hitting nine of them in the game. In fact, in that third quarter when they were outscored so dramatically, the Rebels got 9 of their 15 points on 3-pointers. For the game, Travay Henry and Bradley Case each hit a trio of treys with Dylan Wilkerson, Jon Michael Brown and Gary Moore adding one each. Barrett Croslin hit all of the four 3-pointers the Panthers scored.
The foul line was Russellville’s friend. The winners hit 28 of 37 with Christian Naylor canning 9 of 10, Croslin 8 of 9, and Pedro Rivera 6 of 8. The Rebels hit 16 of 23 foul shots with Case going 4 for 4, Treva Drayton 2 of 2 and Brown 9 of 13.
Croslin finished with 28 points by scoring 10 points in the third and 8 in the fourth. Lee McMurry finished with 22 points, including 8 in the fourth, but he was 0 for 3 at the line in that final stanza. Naylor and Rivera rode their free throw accuracy to 17 and 12 points, respectively.
Brown led the Rebels with 23 points, hitting 7 of 11 free throws in the final stanza. Case added 15 points and Joseph Johnson 10. Johnson didn’t score in the fourth quarter and fouled out. Wilkerson and Tyler Harris finished with four fouls each.
McMurry, Naylor and Coco Darden each had four fouls, but no Panther fouled out.
The Panthers and Rebels will meet for the fourth time this season (they also played in the Class A district tournament) in the opening round of the district tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The Panthers have won the first three, all in close encounters.
Score by quarters: 1) Todd 21-20, 2) 39-28, 3) RHS 62-54, Final) Russellville 88, Todd Central 77
TODD (77) Jon Michael Brown 23, Bradley Case 15, Joseph Johnson 10,Travay Henry 9, Treva Dayton 6, Gary Moore 5, Tyler Harris 4, Dylan Wilkerson 3,Jeremiah Sims 1, Austin Dukes, Noah Bicksler
RHS (88) Barrett Croslin 28, Lee McMurry 22, Christian Naylor 17, Pedro Rivera 12, Micah Naylor 4, Tremon Morris 3, Coco Darden 2, Jason Mitchell, Jaylin McMurry