RHS teams drop games to ELHS Indians
By Brannon King / For the FCT
The Russellville girls’ and boys’ basketball teams got the 2018 portion of their regular season schedule underway with home games against Hamilton and East Limestone.
Hamilton came to RHS Jan. 2 and faced the Golden Tigers at the high school gym. The Russellville girls used a strong defense to take advantage of the game, and the Lady Golden Tigers won 47-27.
Russellville held the Lady Aggies to only 12 points in the first half, and HHS failed to score in the third quarter.
“I think we are starting to figure out a little bit about ourselves defensively and what we’re capable of doing with our front-court pressure,” Russellville head coach Corey Thomaston said. “It’s really good for us to establish that tone early defensively because that gives us those easy looks on the offensive end of the floor.”
Madison Murray had the most points for Russellville with 18. Treyvia Pruitt scored 10, and Madison Hargett added eight. Autumn Logan pitched in with six points, while AJ Taylor and Lexie Glass had two points each. Fallyn Cox scored a point in the win.
Later that night in the boys’ game, Hamilton outscored Russellville 70-64 to get the victory. Lucas McNutt accomplished his highest scoring total with 29 points, but the Aggies overcame a five-point halftime deficit to win.
RHS managed eight points in the third quarter but picked up the scoring pace in the fourth, getting 27 points – but the Aggies didn’t slow down and scored 29 in the period to hold on.
Devin Buckhalter had 15 points for RHS, and Chandler Dyas joined McNutt and Buckhalter in double-figures with 10. Houston Kitterman scored five, while Caden Parker and Brock Malone had two points apiece. Logan Jones also added a free-throw for Russellville.
The long-awaited return to the RMS gym came Friday night for both Russellville squads, as the new floor was ready for action. The East Limestone Indians came to town for important area games and took both contests from the home teams.
In the girls’ game, Jirah Rogers was too much for the Lady Golden Tigers to stop. Rogers was in control under the basket and led all scorers with 30 points as East won 61-23.
Russellville (6-14, 1-2) led 11-10 after one quarter of play, but the Lady Indians held RHS to only three points in both the third and fourth periods for a total of six second-half points. Russellville was held to only two field goals total over the course of the second, third and fourth quarters.
Logan and Murray finished with eight points each for RHS. Hargett scored five, and Pruitt had two points.
The Russellville boys fell 62-52 to the East Limestone team. RHS had to play without McNutt, who missed the game because of the flu.
“Even with that dynamic tonight, we had our opportunities,” Russellville head coach Patrick Odom said. “Basketball is a make-or-miss game and right now. We are really struggling shooting the basketball.”
Russellville (4-11, 0-3) outscored East 18-13 after one quarter of play, and the Indians came back to hold a 28-27 lead at the half. RHS went into the break with momentum when Kitterman wowed the crowd with a long buzzer-beating three-point shot. However, East Limestone used a good third quarter to pull away.
Six Russellville players scored in the game. Buckhalter (17), Parker (12) and Dyas (11) all had double digit point totals. Kitterman and Malone added five points apiece, and Jones rounded out the scoring with two for RHS.
