For the second time this season against Franklin-Simpson, the Russellville Panthers took control of the game and their fate Friday. The reward was much higher this time.
The Panthers ended the Wildcats' four-year reign as 13th District champion, winning 53-44 in the finals of the 13th District Tournament at Logan County High School.

After trailing the Wildcats 25-22 at the half, the Panthers took the third quarter 14-10 and then won going away. The second-half worksheet was 31-19 in points and 27-11 in rebounds, both in favor of RHS.
"Franklin was more aggressive in getting the ball in the first half," said winning coach Dennis Pardue. "They not only manhandled us on the boards but also did a better job of getting loose balls. We talked about that at halftime, and then we were a different team in the second half."
"It has been a long time coming."

This is Pardue's sixth year as the Panthers' head coach. His team beat Franklin in the district championship game in his first year at the helm. "The next two years they beat us in the finals in overtime. Then the last two years it hasn't been close. We needed this one," Pardue noted.

Russellville (17-8) jumped out to a 10-4 lead after 3-pointers by Devonta Bryant and Kevin Temple. Franklin came back to lead 11-10, but Russellville's D.J. Quarles picked off a lazy pass in the RHS lane and put the ball in the basket at the buzzer. The Wildcats scored the first goal of the second quarter and led by three or fewer points the rest of the half. Center Jerron Patterson's putback with 1.5 seconds made the Wildcats' lead 25-22 at the break. RHS statistician Martin Humphrey said F-S had a 16-11 rebounding margin. "It seemed like a lot more to me," said a relieved Pardue after the game.

When Marcus Doaks hit a 3-pointer with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Franklin's lead was five at 33-28. But the Panthers outscored the defending champions 8-2 the rest of the quarter and 25-11 the rest of the game. Bryant hit a pair of shots, Damien Elam scored when Quarles made a steal at midcourt and then ran interference for Elam as he hit the layup.
Russellville took the lead when Trevor Clark put a rebound back in with 35 seconds left to make the score 36-35 after three quarters. Franklin's last lead was at 39-38 when Wildcat star Mickey Lewis picked up a loose ball and stuck it in the goal.

The Panthers' went ahead for keeps when Bryant made it 40-39 with six minutes showing. That was part of a 15-5 run by the Panthers to end the game. With RHS leading 42-40, Victor Hampton scored, Clark connected on an assist from Justin Bollenbecker, and Quarles scored on a drive to make it 48-40. Franklin cut the lead to four when Lewis hit a 14-footer and J.T. Curtis got a spin move to produce a basket with 1:04.
Elam hit a free throw, and then Clark pulled down a defensive rebound and got the ball to Bollenbecker, who missed, but Bryant got a big goal when he converted the offensive rebound into a 51-44 lead with 32 seconds. Bollenbecker's rebound goal finished the scoring and the win.

Bryant was the only double-figure scorer for the winners with 13 points. He also had five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Bollenbecker struggled shooting but led his team in rebounds with seven while adding three steals and two assists. Quarles had nine points and six rebounds. In the balanced attack, Clark added eight points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal. Hampton had six points, four rebounds, and an assist.

Lewis, who ranks in the top 15 in the state in both scoring and rebounding while being recruited by a number of universities including mid-major power Butler, had 15 points, six rebounds, two steals and an assist. Curtis was the game's only other double-figure performer with 10 points. Patterson tied Bollenbecker for game rebounding honors with seven boards.

Russellville finished with a 38-27 rebounding margin. The teams were basically equal on free throws, assists and turnovers, but Russellville shot 44.9 percent for the game as compared to Franklin's 37.3 percent.
The low shooting performance was part of the Panthers' outstanding defense. The Wildcats had scored 79 points against Todd Central in their district opener, including 57 in the second and third quarters, a far cry from their 44 total points Friday. The Cats hit better than 70 percent in those two quarters. Franklin had just 12 turnovers in that game, as compared to 19 in the finals.

The Panthers' win ended an eight-game win streak for Franklin-Simpson, which will take a 20-9 record into the regional tournament.

Named to the Gerald Printing All-Tournament Team were Russellville's Bryant, Elam and Quarles, Franklin's Lewis and Wickware, Logan County's Reuben Rawlings-Watson, and Todd Central's Luke Perdue.

Score by quarters: 1) RHS 12-11, 2) F-S 25-22, 3) RHS 36-25, Final) Russellville 53, Franklin-Simpson 44
RHS (53) Devonta Bryant 13, D.J. Quarles 9, Trevor Clark 8, Victor Hampton 6, Kevin Temple 6, Damien Elam 5, Justin Bollenbecker 4, Darren Murphy 2, Davis Pardue, Ryan Bibb, Zack Hines, Travez Hampton
F-S (44) Mickey Lewis 15, J.T. Curtis 10, Marcus Doaks 9, Jerrod Patterson 4, Ryan Randolph 3, Jerrell Wickware 3, Lockhart, Tellner, Fox