High School Sports, Russellville Golden Tigers, Sports
Brannon King For the FCT
 By Brannon King For the FCT  
Published 6:00 am Wednesday, February 18, 2026

RHS girls beat Sardis, head to region

RUSSELLVILLE —The Russellville girls basketball team advanced to the AHSAA Class 5A Northwest Regional at Wallace State in Hanceville with a subregion win over the Sardis Lions.

The Golden Tigers went to Sardis and got the 72-62 win after trailing early in the contest.

The Lions led 18-9 at the end of the first quarter before RHS rallied to tie the score at 28-28 going into the halftime break. Russellville then took control in the second half. The Golden Tigers were up 49-40 after three quarters of action.

Ella Copeland led Russellville to victory with 26 points. Angeleah Smith and Blevyn Sappington added 14 points each, and Laila Hill also scored in double figures with 10. Sadie Odom finished the game with seven points.

With the win, head coach Jermaine Groce’s team is now 19-12 on the season going into the regional.

The Golden Tigers will take the court at Wallace State Thursday versus Guntersville High School. The Wildcats are 24-3 on the season after defeating East Limestone 65-38 in the subregion game.

Russellville faced Guntersville during the regular season on Nov. 25 and the Wildcats defeated the Golden Tigers 81-44.

Area finals

Earlier last week, the Russellville girls went to West Point High School to take on the Warriors in the championship game of the Class 5A, Area 15 tournament.

West Point continued to add to their outstanding season with a 54-49 win over the Golden Tigers.

WPHS led 19-11 after the first quarter, and the Warriors were ahead 34-22 at the half. The Golden Tigers battled throughout the contest and cut the lead to eight points at the end of three quarters.

Copeland led the Golden Tigers with 24 points. Hill scored 13, and Smith added 10. Bella Malone finished the game with two points for RHS.

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