Lady Golden Tigers earn berth at Northwest Regional Tourney
By Staff
Scot Beard
Russellville senior Erin Reynolds has been through a lot with her Lady Golden Tiger teammates the past few seasons, but she had never played in the Northwest Regional Tournament.
She will get that opportunity Wednesday morning thanks to Russellville's 54-44 victory Thursday against Lee-Huntsville during sub-regional round of the Class 5A playoffs.
"I knew it was coming, but the wait and the anticipation was killing me," said Reynolds, the only senior on Russellville's squad.
Both the Lady Golden Tigers and Lee had difficulty scoring early in the first quarter, but each team found its rhythm and, after swapping the lead several times, Russellville led 12-11 at the end of the quarter.
Russellville began taking control of the game midway through the second quarter when Tasha West hit back-to-back-to-back shots to increase the Lady Golden Tigers' lead from one point to seven points.
Russellville led 27-21 at halftime.
The Lady Golden Tigers continued to pull away in the third quarter to build a 12-point lead. They led by as many as 14 points in the fourth, but a pair of late 3-pointers by Lee closed the final gap to 10 points.
West had a double-double for Russellville with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Reynolds added 17 points and eight rebounds.
Also scoring for Russellville were Amber Elliot (15), Ayanna McCullough (2) and Janarie Donley (1).
Despite the win, Reynolds was not happy with the way Russellville played.
She is confident, however, in the Lady Golden Tigers' chances at the regional tournament.
"Tonight was our one bad night," Reynolds said. "Once we are at Hanceville, we will make it to Birmingham."
With the win, Russellville advances to the Northwest Regional Tournament at Wallace State in Hanceville. The Lady Golden Tigers will play A.P. Brewer, which lost in the state championship game last year, Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Russellville coach James Bostick was pleased with his team's effort, but said the real test will come at Wallace State.
"They came out and took care of business," Bostick said. "Wednesday will be tough. We are going to have to play some basketball."
