RHS girls basketball season ends with area tourney loss to West Point
The talented West Point team hosted the event, and the Lady Warriors improved to 26-5 on the year. RHS finished the season by winning three of the past five games for a 7-20 record.
“Coming into the year, we talked about embracing the underdog role,” said Russellville head coach Jermaine Groce. “We knew we were probably going to be picked last going into the area, and we were going to have to earn everything we were going to get and leave it all out on the court.
“For the most part, especially late in the season, we did that.”
Groce said his team fought all season.
“We finished up the season with six seniors, and I talked about how they laid the foundation – how they showed these other girls how to scrap, how to win, how to battle and how to continue to show Tiger pride,” Groce said. “It means a lot when you can take a group of upperclassmen like that and fight season-long. We came into this game with a record of 7-19, and you couldn’t tell. Those girls battled it out all year.”
West Point jumped out to a 22-6 first quarter lead before the Lady Golden Tigers battled back and were outscored 16-14 in the second period.
Russellville continued giving strong effort in the third, with the Warriors outdoing RHS by an 18-15 total in the quarter.
However, the fourth was all West Point, as they outscored their opponent by a 21-10 margin to advance.
Fallin Cox finished behind Murray and Logan with six points for Russellville. AJ Taylor and Jenna Whitfield scored four each, while Krista Sikes had three and Lexie Glass finished with two.
Athens 60, Russellville 35
Class 6A No. 2 Athens took a 34-12 lead into the half after the Golden Eagles outscored Russellville 20-1 in the second quarter. RHS was outscored by a 26-23 total during the game’s second half on the road Jan. 28 in regular season action.
Murray scored 12 points to lead Russellville. Logan added seven, and Whitfield scored six, while Cox had 5. Leah Rushing scored three for RHS, and Glass had two.
Russellville 41, Haleyville 37
Russellville wrapped up the regular season with a trip to Haleyville Jan. 30, and RHS got the win over the Lady Lions.
RHS trailed 17-16 at the half and 31-25 after three quarters before outscoring Haleyville by a 16-6 fourth period total.
Murray had 17 points to pace Russellville. Glass finished with six, while Logan and Cox scored four each.
Sikes, Taylor and Jayna Poss all had three apiece, and Whitfield scored one.
