It's already time for the high school team to start bouncing basketballs.

Tonight marks the beginning of the local prep hoops season with three of our four teams hitting the hardwood.

The Russellville boys' team and the Logan County girls' team both play at home while the Russellville Lady Panthers travel to Allen County-Scottsville.

Both the Panthers and Lady Cougars have a great shot at starting the season on a winning note.

Russellville plays Whitesville Trinity and Logan County plays Warren Central. It will likely be tougher for the Lady Panthers to come away with a win on the road against a pretty good Allen County-Scottsville bunch, but I wouldn't count them out either.

The Logan County boys' team opens play Friday night at Russellville in the first of two ‘Clash of the Cats' contests. The second will be on Feb. 6 at LCHS.

But outside of this week's opening games, just how successful will the season be for the four teams?

It's hard to guess wins and losses, but I fully expect all four to be improved from last year. That's partially true because - for the most part - last year was a pretty disappointing basketball season for our local teams.

The Logan boys and Russellville girls only won two games apiece, so they have nowhere to go but up.

But the Lady Panthers were extremely young last year and return their big playmakers. The experience the young ladies got while struggling through last season should be a huge help.

It'll be tough for Russellville to go from just two wins to earning a spot in the region tournament, but it's not outside the realm of possibility.

The Logan County boys also should be better. They have a new coach in Harold Tackett and he's been around the block a time or two. That's important, because of all the teams, the Cougars probably have the toughest row to hoe and it's good that they have an older, calmer coach to lead them through.

There's definitely some winnable games on the schedule for the Cougars. If they stick with it, they should be able to add significantly on last year's win total.

The Logan County girls probably should have been better last year.

The Lady Cougars battled injuries all season long and still managed to win nine games - and nearly made it to the Fourth Region Tournament. This year, they have most everyone back and could be a legitimate top six or seven team in the region.

The Russellville boys had by far the most success of any of the local teams last year.

The Panthers were the only team to finish with a winning record and make it to the region tourney.

With most of their players back, they are expecting even bigger things this year.

I think Russellville has a real shot at winning the Fourth Region All ‘A' Classic and going to the state tournament in Richmond. The Panthers are also a legitimate top three or four team in the region and could win it all if things fall right in March.

The Panthers will still be relying a lot on a nice group of sophomores to go along with their seniors and juniors, and could have some up-and-down type games, but this could be a special season for RHS.

- OJ Stapleton is the editor of the News-Democrat & Leader. Contact him at edit_ndl@bellsouth.net or 726-8394.