Coach Dedra Croslin's Lady Panthers relied on their defense and ball control to win 47-36.
Especially crucial to the win was the defense of junior post player Rachea Daniel, who used her strength to deny the ball to Lady Cougar star Kara Haley. At the end of the game, Haley was going outside to shoot 3-pointers because it was so hard for her to get the ball inside.
Daniel had a great game overall, leading the team in scoring with 16 points.
Lady Panthers Reagan Leavell scored 6 and Caitlin Reeves 5 in the first quarter to start the victory. RHS led 9-4 but Logan cut it to 11-10 on Whitney Bell's 3-pointer.
Daniel scored six points in the second quarter, which proved to be more than the entire Lady Cougar output in the quarter. The two Logan goals came in the last two minutes of the half, with Haley and Bethany Cropper each taking advantage of assists by Kayla Coursey, who played the entire game despite a painful elbow injury.
Russellville took 32 shots as compared to Logan's 21 in the first half, taking advantage of steals from the Lady Cougars and Logan's tendency to pass the ball around the perimeter instead of taking the ball inside.
Reeves scored 7 of her 14 points in the third quarter for RHS, including hitting a 3-pointer. That nullified two 3-pointers that Logan's Brittany Roark scored late in the quarter, and Russellville led 33-25 going into the final eight minutes.
Rachea Daniel hit the first two goals of the fourth quarter to make the lead 12, and she matched another set of goals with Roark to make it 39-27 with 3:45.
Erin Wilson played hard for Logan the entire game. Had it not been for her intensity, the margin would have been greater. She hit three free throws in the fourth quarter and finished with seven points.
It was the first RHS sweep over the Lady Cougars in recent history.
A plus for RHS was that the Lady Panthers won without much point production from their leading scorers on the season. Chloe Elam had six points and Nakia Daniel none. Elam didn't shoot much and joined Leavell in giving Logan fits with their quickness. The lone senior, Shonay Dandridge, got several key rebounds despite giving up a great size disadvantage.
The bright spot for Logan was that several injured players are becoming available. Abbey Robertson was able to see extensive action for the first time in about a month. Lisa Tichenor spent the most time on the court that she has since suffering a medical problem. Cropper, who has been out with an ankle injury similar to Robertson's, played in several short stays on the court. Lora Miller, also with an ankle injury, was in uniform. And Coursey played through the pain.
Russellville (9-13) plays at Caverna tonight. Logan (4-16) entertains Edmonson County tonight in a boy-girl doubleheader on Senior Night with the girls playing second..
Score by quarters: 1) RHS 13-9, 2) 23-14, 3) 33-25, Final) Russellville 47, Logan County 36
LCHS (36) Kara Haley 10, Brittany Roark 9, Erin Wilson 7, Kayla Coursey 5, Whitney Bell 3, Bethany Cropper 2, Robertson, Tichenor, J. Wilson, Dowlen
RHS (47) Rachea Daniel 16, Caitlin Reeves 14, Reagan Leavell 7, Chloe Elam 6, Jane Higgins 2, LeAndra Hoosier 2, Dandridge, N. Daniel, Posey, Hampton, Hann, Sydnor, Ward
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