By Brannon King for the FCT

The Lady Golden Tigers got back into the win column with a decisive victory over the Falkville Blue Devils in their second game of the day in the Hatton Christmas Classic Tournament.

Russellville (2-13) jumped out to a 16-8 lead and held a 15-point advantage at the half. The Lady Golden Tigers used the momentum to continue to pull away in the second half of the game.

“I thought the girls really responded after this morning (loss to Clements),” Russellville Coach Corey Thomaston said. “This morning was a really tough test for us, and we challenged them in between games. We had a lot of heart-to-hearts with them, and I thought we executed a lot better. I was extremely proud of Kallie Allen and the way that she was really taking charge of things on the offensive end and really got a lot of people involved besides herself. I thought as a result, it really got us a flow going early on.”

Allen led all scorers with 26 for Russellville. She was followed in scoring by Treyvia Pruitt (13), Jamie Hill (10), AJ Taylor (8), Phifer (1), Krista Sikes (1) and KK Harvey (1).

The Lady Golden Tigers had started out the tourney by dropping their opening game to Hatton on the Hornets’ home floor, 53-38. Russellville’s Madison Murray suffered an ankle injury during the game, and it was tough for the Lady Golden Tigers to overcome. Allen led all scorers with 18 points. She was followed by RHS teammates Autumn Logan (7), Taylor (4), Murray (3), Pruitt (3), Hill (1), Lexie Glass (1) and Harvey (1).

In the second game face-off against Clements, the Colts were too much for the Lady Golden Tigers in the consolation bracket game at Hatton, with a 52-24 final score. Russellville trailed by a 16-6 score at the end of the first quarter and was behind 25-15 at the half.

Pruitt led Russellville in scoring with nine points. Allen and Sikes had six points each, while KK Harvey had two and Jamie Hill added one point.

Boys Basketball (Hellen Keller Hospital Wayne Bracy Invitational)

Russellville 83, Lawrence County (Tenn.) 82

Russellville’s Taylor Vincent made two free throws in the final second of the game to give the Golden Tigers a thrilling win over the Wildcats of Lawrence County in their first game of the Bracy Invitational Tournament at Deshler High School Dec. 27.

RHS took the win despite Lawrence County’s hot shooting from the outside. The Wildcats made 16 three-pointers and were led by Garrett Martin’s 21 points.

Russellville was led in scoring by Bailey Motes with 19 points. Vincent had 14 and was followed by Devin Buckhalter (13), Judd Ward (12), Austin Stidham (12), Lucas McNutt (9) and Caden Parker (4).

Athens 78, Russellville 55

The Golden Tigers fell in the second game of the tournament to the Golden Eagles. Athens used the outstanding performance of John Williams, who led all scorers with 31 points, to get the win. Williams connected on 6 three-pointers to help advance his team in the winner’s bracket.

Athens had a strong second half and outscored Russellville 20-7 in the third quarter and 25-10 in the fourth.

Bailey Motes led Russellville with 21 points. Devin Buckhalter (10), Austin Stidham (9), Taylor Vincent (6), Judd Ward (4), Caden Parker (2), Nate Franklin (2) and Lucas McNutt (1) also scored for RHS.

Russellville 82, Lauderdale County 67

Russellville bounced back and took a good win over the Lauderdale County Tigers in the consolation game Dec. 29.

The Golden Tigers (9-3) outscored LCHS in the second quarter 26-10 to pull away. Judd Ward had a big game with 20 points. Motes (19), Stidham (12), Vincent (12) and Buckhalter (10) all scored in double figures for Russellville. McNutt (6) and Parker (4) also scored for RHS. Wyatt Newton led Lauderdale County with 26 points.

“As we close the old year and begin the new year, we’re where we need to be as a team,” Russellville Coach Patrick Odom said. “We’ve got a lot of growing that we can continue to do. This team still has a lot of potential, and I like this team as we continue to grow.”