With about a third of the basketball season still left to be played, the Logan County High School boys’ basketball team has already equaled its win total from a year ago.

It’s not a big number. The Cougars won just two games last year, but Tuesday’s 61-60 win over Butler County was still a significant milestone.

Now, Logan County has another five-plus weeks to improve on last year’s mark.

The Cougars currently are sitting at 2-13, so a winning season isn’t going to happen. But if they play well down the stretch, five, six or even seven wins isn’t out of the question.

And that would be a big improvement over last season.

First-year coach Harold Tackett had his hands full when took over the program, which was in a downward spiral before he got there.

So far, it appears that Logan County is going to pull out of it.

As the first part of this season has shown, it won’t be easy.

The Cougars will need to take baby steps to get back to respectability.

Tuesday night was definitely a step in the right direction.

The Lady Cougars have also been showing some really nice signs of success lately.

The Logan County girls also beat Butler County on Tuesday – giving the school a doubleheader sweep for the first time this season.

That 54-48 win extended the Lady Cougars’ current winning streak to six games. That’s by far the longest for coach Scot MacAllister, who is in his fourth year with the program.

Unfortunately, all the Lady Cougars wins this year – and so far there have been nine of them – have come against nondistrict teams.

Logan County needs to start winning some District 13 games or it will be in the uncomfortable position of playing defending Fourth Region champ Franklin-Simpson in the first round of the district tournament.

And a loss there would end Logan County’s season without a trip to the region tournament.

The Lady Cougars have a great chance to pick up their first District 13 win of the season tonight at home against Todd County Central.

Earlier this season, Logan County lost 55-41 against the Lady Rebels in Elkton.

The Lady Cougars are 6-1 at home this year and should be playing with plenty of confidence tonight.

The game will start at approximately 7:30 p.m., as it is the second half of a doubleheader. The boys’ teams play at 6 p.m.

•••

The Russellville High School boys’ and girls’ teams both suffered setbacks on Tuesday at Greenwood.

The RHS boys lost 58-42 to the Gators. It was their second loss in Bowling Green in a week. The Panthers fell last week at Warren Central/

The Lady Panthers fell 67-58 to the Lady Gators for their third loss in a row. Russellville lost back-to-back night against Warren County teams, as Warren Central beat them 80-54 on Monday in Bowling Green.

Both the RHS boys and girls teams return to action tonight at Franklin-Simpson. The girls’ game will begin at 6 p.m., while the boys’ game will start at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Both teams begin play in the Fourth Region All ‘A’ Classic on Monday night with first-round games at Clinton County

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