The Lady Cougars and Lady Panthers met for the third time this season tonight with a trip to the district championship game and the region tournament on the line. The Lady Cougars had Russellville's number all season winning the first two meetings.

But this time it would be different as the Lady Panthers used a strong second half to knock off their rivals 47-39.

In the first quarter the Logan County Lady Cougars took a 6-0 lead and used their suffocating defense to shut down the inside offense of the Lady Panthers. But unlike the first two meetings the Lady Panthers refused to yield. Russellville would close the gap to 11-7.

In the second quarter the Lady COugars tried to pull away, but the Lady Panthers continued to hang tough. The Lady Panthers were only done 18-15 going into the half time. It seemed that the Lady Panthers were just hanging around waiting for a run to close the gap.

IN the third quarter the Lady Panthers took a 24-23 lead, but Logan County snatched the lead back at 27-24 going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, with every possession so critical, the Lady Panthers finally took the lead with four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. This time the Lady Cougars couldn't respond as Russellville extended the lead to 40-36 before Logan County had to start fouling. The Lady Panthers hit the clutch free throws and held off Logan County's last attempt and clinched their spot in the finals against Todd County.

With a chance to hang a district title banner from the rafters and move onto the region tournament as a district champion it all starts Thursday at 7 p.m. against the Lady Rebels.

Look for more in depth coverage in Friday's News-Democrat&Leader.