Franklin County Times

RUSSELLVILLE — Russellville added Colbert County to the roster last year, but it has not taken very long for the games between these two schools to heat up in intensity.

Both varsity games featured physical play by both schools, and the boys’ varsity game had a cheering war between student sections towards the end.

In the end, the Lady Golden Tigers defeated the Lady Indians 42-31 while the Russellville varsity boys fell to Colbert County 67-64.

The Lady Indians of Colbert County came out ready to play, and their physical defensive work forced several errors and turnovers early on for the Lady Golden Tigers.

Despie this it was Russellville that took an early 4-0 lead. The Lady Indians came back and took the lead at 7-6. Russellville stayed on top for the rest of the contest, but Colbert County never trailed by more than 9 points until late in the game.

The Lady Indians closed the gap to 2 points early on in the second quarter, but they would never get any closer to the lead.

“We are playing hard out there,” Russellville head coach James Bostick said. “We played with a lot of intensity, and we are improving and working hard to get better. We’ve only got one senior and two juniors, so we’re looking at the big picture this year. “We are going to be good down the road; we just want to be able to compete this year.”

Ashley Dunstan led the Lady Golden Tigers with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 blocks. Angela Woods added 9 points and 10 rebounds and Victoria Jackson had 9 points. Also scoring for Russellville were: Peyton Hester (6), Rachel Garrison (5) and Michaela Smith (3).

Russellville’s boys varsity team jumped on top of Colbert County 9-0 before the Indians came to life with a 10-0 run. The Golden Tigers only had the lead once more in the game, but not for lack of effort.

Russellville was down 55-33 late in the third quarter before making an amazing comeback. The Golden Tigers went on a 9-0 run that extended into the fourth quarter before the Indians scored again. Russellville then had another 9-0 run to make it 57-53 in Colbert County’s favor.

Russellville got as close as four points multiple times before ultimately being within three points on a last-second shot, but the Indians were able to close the game on top.

“We’re playing hard, and we’ve picked up our intensity on defense,” Russellville head coach Michael Smith said. “We’ve got to play hard every night, and we played hard in the fourth quarter. I’m proud of the team for not quitting after being down 22. If we can get that kind of effort for 32 minutes then we’ll be alright.

Caleb Robison led Russellville in points with 20. Leslie Dunstan came in with 13 points and 6 rebounds, and Jacob Seal contributed 13 points as well.

Also scoring for the Golden Tigers were: Jackson Smith (7), Drew Malone (4), Christopher Owens (4) and Kaelan Bonds (3).

— stats kept by Jeremy Reed