Allen County-Scottsville used all the weapons at its disposal to win at Russellville Tuesday in a game matching two of the region's most highly regarded teams.

AC-S relied on the region's top point guard to distribute the ball to his teammates, center Wes Williams took advantage of his height and forward Garrett Stone of his strength, the Patriots executed the carefully crafted plays installed by Coach Scott Shelton, and the entire team shot free throws with precision.

As a result, the visitors built a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter, withstood a couple of serious challenges from the Panthers, cashed in on every free throw opportunity, and beat an improved Russellville team 82-72.

AC-S hit 21 of 25 free throws for the game, including 15 of 17 in the second half. Russellville was 9 of 14 for the game, including 7 of 12 in the second half.

Russellville's last lead for two quarters came when Tyler Meacham hit a 3-pointer followed by a goal by Kenton Cage to make it 9-6. AC-S scored the next eight points, but a 3-pointer by Josh Kennedy tied it at 17-17 with a minute remaining in the quarter.

Allen County then outscored the Panthers 14-4 to to jump ahead 31-21 on a 3-pointer by point guard Luc Graves. RHS climbed back into contention after the Patriots led 35-27. Kennedy hit a shot, Jordan Hinton put a rebound back in, and Jacob Allen hit a pair of free throws with 1.8 seconds to cut the margin to two at halftime.

The Patriots' lead was 43-37 before Meacham put together a 3-point play, and Hinton hit two straight 3-pointers to make it 47-44 RHS. The lead was short-lived, less than a minute. Stone's two straight goals made it 50-47 AC-S. Jerrell Mayo hit a basket and a free throw to tie it at 50-50, but Jay Starks' two free throws as the quarter ended gave the visitors the lead for keeps.

From that juncture on, Allen County hit 14 of 15 free throws. Consecutive 3-point plays by Williams and Graves made the lead 11 with 3:04 remaining in the game.

The Panthers had some success on Mayo's 1-on-1 moves and Hinton's long-range bombs, but Graves took care of the ball so well that AC-S was able to preserve the lead. Repeatedly the Patriots' big guys pulled the Panthers away from the goal, and suddenly a Patriot would be standing alone by the goal, waiting for the easy bucket.

Allen County had 19 assists and would have had more if players weren't getting fouled as they put the shot up. Stone had 7 assists, Graves 5 and three other players 2 each. Hinton had 5 assists and Mayo 4 for Russellville.

AC-S had a 36-35 rebounding margin with Hinton getting 7 and Meacham and Mayo 6 each for Russellville. The Panthers were assessed 19 turnovers and the Patriots 12.

Leading RHS in scoring were Meacham with 22 points and Mayo 21. Hinton added 11.

Graves scored 22 points to lead four AC-S double figure scorers.

AC-S improved its record to 11-5, including 8-1 in the region, tied for tops in the region in both statistics. Russellville fell to 8-8 with a regional record of 3-3.

The Panthers will entertain Franklin-Simpson (7-8, 4-5) tonight in a key district matchup for homecoming. The girls will play first.

Score by quarters: 1) AC-S 22-17, 2) 35-33, 3) 52-50, Final) Allen County-Scottsville 82, Russellville 72

AC-S (82) Luc Graves 22, William Boards 17, Garrett Stone 14, Wes Williams 13, John Jeskie 8, Jay Starks 7, Marsh 1, B. Boards

RHS (72) Tyler Meacham 22, Jerrell Mayo 21, Jordan Hinton 11, Josh Kennedy 8, Kenton Cage 4, Donnie Bigbee 4, Jacob Allen 2, Benton