It was basketball Senior Night at Russellville Jan. 28, and the Golden Tigers defeated the Haleyville Lions 81-63 in boys’ action.

Three RHS starters make up the class of 2021, and they had a big night on the court to lead the way to victory. Jeb Bishop scored 24 points in the contest, and he was followed by fellow seniors Brooks Scott with 21 and Chandler Dyas with 15.

“I’m very proud of our guys and you obviously wanted to get a win on Senior Night,” said Russellville head coach Patrick Odom. “What was fun was to see our three seniors play the way that they played and how our team played the way that they played. We’ve been scoring a lot of points, and we’re a good offensive team, but I thought tonight that our defense was the best it’s been all year, and that was the difference in the basketball game.”

Haleyville jumped out to a 22-14 first quarter lead to start the contest before Russellville stormed back with an 18-8 second period to take a two-point advantage into the half. The Class 5A 10th-ranked Golden Tigers finished the game strong with a 27-point fourth quarter.

Eli Gipson followed the senior trio with 14 points. Conner Warhurst added four, Samuel Pace had two and Boots McCulloch scored one. With the win, Russellville improved the record to 14-5 on the season.

Earlier in the week, Russellville traveled to Deshler and dropped a hard-fought game to the 4A Tigers, 74-70. Deshler held a six-point advantage after two quarters and led 54-43 after three periods of play.

Dyas led RHS with 25 points. He was joined in double figures by Bishop with 19 and Gipson with 12. McCulloch and Scott scored four apiece, and they were followed by Brockway, Warhurst and Pace with two points each.

The Golden Tigers got back into the win column the following night with an 81-75 area victory over the Lawrence County Red Devils. With the win, RHS finished regular season Class 5A, Area 15 play with an unblemished 4-0 record against those opponents.

In girls basketball, Russellville went to Tuscumbia and fell to Deshler 73-22. Chloe Siegel set a DHS record with 11 three-pointers in the game, and she finished the contest with 33 points.

Jenna Whitfield led RHS in scoring with six points. Leah Rushing and Jacey Moore had five each, Fallin Cox added four and Avery Watts finished with two.

Russellville returned home for a game against Lawrence County the following evening and dropped to 0-4 in area play with a 64-53 loss to the Lady Devils.

Jayna Poss led RHS with 13 points, and she was joined in double figures by Whitfield with 12.

RHS honored Cox on Senior Night during a matchup versus Haleyville Jan. 28. Cox is the lone senior on this year’s squad, and she scored seven points in a 61-44 loss to the Lady Lions.

“Anytime you can get a kid like Fallin Cox that can stay in your program for six years from seventh grade all the way to senior year, it’s special,” said Russellville head coach Jermaine Groce. “It leaves a legacy. I appreciate that kid’s hard work, energy and effort. She definitely has a contagious fun-loving spirit. She’s a good kid to be around, and hopefully, more girls choose Russellville girls’ sports and commit six years because that’s what we need to grow our program and be the type of program we need to be.”

Anna Beth Oliver led Russellville in scoring with 18 points.

Vina came to Russellville Feb. 1, and the Lady Golden Tigers improved their record to 3-17 on the season with a 60-24 win over the Lady Red Devils. It was the second RHS win over Vina this season.

Ten RHS players scored in the victory.