By Staff
Scot Beard
HUNTSVILLE -The Russellville varsity boys basketball team had a difficult time at the Huntsville Times Classic, going 2-2 during the tournament and finishing sixth out of 16 teams.
Russellville lost the opening game of the tournament falling to Bob Jones 82-66 before defeating Paul W. Bryant 65-53 and Hazel Green 70-66.
The Golden Tigers picked up their second loss of the tournament when they fell to Lee-Huntsville 75-62 in the fifth-place game Monday.
"We've got to get ready," Russellville coach Michael Smith said after his team fell to 10-3 on the season. "We didn't play the big brother, we played the little brother and got whipped."
Russellville fell behind early and trailed Lee 36-21 at halftime. The Golden Tigers fought back in the fourth quarter and pulled within seven points behind 3-pointers from Will Bostick and Micah McCulloch.
Lee scored the final six points of the game to pull away for the comfortable win.
Terence Smith led the Golden Tigers with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Bostick added 14 points and Jermaine Bates scored 12 for Russellville.
Also scoring for the Golden Tigers were McCulloch (8), Mark Davis (6), Nate Dunstan (5) and Darrian Graham (1).
Smith earned All-Tournament Team honors for Russellville. He averaged 14.5 points per game and 7.75 rebounds per game.
Bates was the leading scorer for Russellville during the tournament, averaging 16.5 points per game while Bostick averaged 10.5 and Dunstan averaged 10.
Russellville will resume its season Monday at Hartselle. With a win in that game, the Golden Tigers will improve to 3-0 in area play.