The Russellville High School varsity boys and girls basketball teams faced stiff competition over the past week against highly-ranked opponents.

After defeating top-10-ranked Red Bay the previous week, the RHS boys took down Deshler by a 77-58 final score and went to Brooks and defeated the Lions 61-52.

Both Deshler and Brooks can be found in the Class 4A rankings.

The Lady Golden Tigers also faced a talented No. 1 in Class 4A Deshler squad, and Russellville fell in that contest by a 59-26 score.

“When you look at the teams we’ve beaten, we’re not playing just anybody,” Russellville head coach Patrick Odom pointed out. “Our schedule is loaded with good teams, so when you’re able to go on the road and beat a good team like this, it’s a confidence builder.”

RHS jumped out to a 22-14 advantage versus Deshler in the boys’ game Dec. 15. Five Golden Tigers scored in the opening period for a balanced attack.

In the second quarter, six RHS players got into the scoring column, and the Golden Tigers had a 44-31 lead at the half.

Russellville continued to grow that lead in the third, outscoring DHS 18-10 before Deshler finished the game with 17 points in the final period to Russellville’s 15.

Brooks Scott led the way for Russellville with 27 points. He was joined in double-figures by Jeb Bishop with 21 and Chandler Dyas with 13. Boots McCulloch added six, and Eli Gipson scored five points. Nathan Brockway scored four, and Conner Warhurst scored one.

In the girls’ game, Deshler outscored Russellville by a 19-2 total in the second quarter and held a 35-9 lead at the end of the first half.

Russellville (1-7) got scoring from six players in the contest. Jenna Whitfield had seven points to lead RHS. Fallin Cox, Avery Watts, Jayna Poss and Jacey Moore had four each, and Anna Beth Oliver scored three.

Dec. 18 the Russellville boys used a solid defense to hold Brooks to five first-quarter points to the Golden Tigers’ 13. RHS (4-2) held a 29-20 lead at the half and a 40-32 advantage after three quarters.

Eli Gipson was Russellville’s leading scorer with 17 in the game. Scott poured in 12, and Bishop added 11. McCulloch and Dyas had nine each, and Ashton Boyd scored three.