Trojans ease past RHS 57-53

By Staff
MUSCLE SHOALS – Entering the season the Russellville varsity boys basketball team had an impressive winning streak against area rival Muscle Shoals.
As the season progressed, the Golden Tigers struggled to maintain a winning record while the Trojans moved to the No.-3 ranking in the latest poll.
And that winning streak has been replaced with a losing streak that extended to four games following Russellville's 57-53 loss to the Trojans during the Class 5A, Area 15 Tournament finals Monday night.
Muscle Shoals built a 21-13 lead at halftime, but Russellville rallied to pull within one point midway through the third quarter.
The Trojans rebuilt an 11-point lead thanks to 12-4 run.
Russellville struggled from behind the 3-point line, hitting only 4-of-19 shots from behind the line. Two of those 3-pointers came in the final 66 seconds of the game.
Three Golden Tigers reached double-digit scoring as Terence Smith scored 19 points, Will Bostick scored 14 points and Darrian Graham added 11 points.
Also scoring for the Golden Tigers were Brent Calloway with five points and Nate Dunstan with four points.
With the loss Russellville falls to 12-11 for the season and has to travel to fourth-ranked Lee-Huntsville Friday for the sub-regional round of the playoffs. The game begins at 7 p.m.
Lee won the Class 5A, Area 16 title by upsetting No.-1 Butler 92-91 in triple overtime.
Russellville 69,
Athens 55
The Golden Tigers dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring Athens 23-11 to pull away for a 69-55 victory last Friday to advance to the area tournament finals.
Smith scored 22 points while Mark Davis added 21 points.
Also scoring for Russellville were Dunstan (9), Graham (8), Calloway (6) and Matthew Duncan (3).