Losses plague Golden Tiger program
By Brannon King / For the FCT
The 2017-18 varsity basketball season is well underway, and wins for both the Russellville boys’ and girls’ teams have been hard to come by so far.
Having to play all early season games on the road because of water damage to the floor of their home court, the Golden Tigers are being tested. The struggles could pay off later in the year as the two teams gain more experience.
The boys’ team traveled to Haleyville Nov. 30 and Winfield the following night. Russellville fell to the Lions by a 65-59 score and then dropped the second game in two nights in a hard-fought battle with the Pirates, 63-62.
The game against the Winfield Pirates came down to the final seconds after an RHS rally. A late-game steal and layup by Lucas McNutt put the Golden Tigers up by a point with 21.9 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Pirates retook the lead, 63-62, after an offensive rebound led to a basket. Then, with less than five seconds remaining in the game, Russellville inbounded the ball and was called for traveling before getting to run their final play and taking a shot for the win at the buzzer.
“You never know how a play will turn out, but I thought it was a very questionable, tough call,” Russellville head coach Patrick Odom said. “You hate to see a questionable call determine a game that was played so hard and so well.”
Despite only one win thus far, Odom said he likes what he sees in his young team and remains positive. “What we’ve seen this week is our guys grow up a lot,” Odom said. “We haven’t gotten the result that we want, but we’re headed in the right direction. You’re seeing more guys contributing to their roles.”
One of those players that has shown growth is Chandler Dyas. Dyas hit three fourth-quarter three-pointers on his way to a 15-point performance in the game against Winfield.
Another top performer was Devin Buckhalter. The junior led the team with 21 points versus the Pirates and was followed by Houston Kitterman (9), Calen Bragwell (6), Lucas McNutt (6), Brock Malone (3) and Caden Parker (2).
In the game at Haleyville, the Lions jumped out to a 20-9 lead to start the game and didn’t look back. The Golden Tigers trailed by 20 points going into the final quarter but outscored their opponent 24-10 in that final period to draw closer at the end.
Lucas McNutt led Russellville with 15 points on the night and was joined by Logan Jones (13) as double-figures scorers.
In girls’ action, the Lady Golden Tigers dropped their game at Haleyville, 50-47, and lost the following night at Winfield, 41-27.
Russellville head coach Corey Thomaston said he felt like his team didn’t play to their identity at Winfield.
“I felt like tonight wasn’t indicative of who we are as a team,” Thomaston said. “I feel like we’ve gotten better each night throughout the early part of the season, and tonight, I thought we took a step backwards. I don’t think this defines who we are.
“I think it’s just a situation where playing eight games in 14 days, I feel like we really let fatigue get into our heads as much as into our bodies,” he added. “We can’t be a team that makes excuses for anything. We’ve got to be disciplined enough mentally and physically to overcome that.”
Six players scored for RHS in the Winfield game. Madison Murray led the team with 12 points. Xaria Hollingsworth was next with six. Treyvia Pruitt (3), Madison Hargett (2), Autumn Logan (2) and AJ Taylor (2) also scored for RHS.
Murray and Pruitt led the Golden Tigers in the Haleyville game. Murray scored 14 points, and Pruitt pitched in with 13. Logan (8), Hargett (5), Taylor (4) and Cox (3) also scored for RHS.
