Only one of the four high school basketball teams from the Land of Logan will begin postseason play Monday when the 13th District Tournament opens at Logan County High School.
Todd Central plays in both games Monday and Russellville will be the featured Tuesday. Both Todd teams are seeded fourth and have to play the number one seeds in the two gender divisions. RHS is seeded second among the boys and third in the girls.
The Logan County Cougars, who are the top-seeded boys team, will play the Rebels in Monday’s second game. Coach Josh Frick’s Cougars beat Todd Central 69-50 at home and 70-47 in Elkton. The Cougars, who are rated 6th in the region, have an 18-10 record overall. They are 9-3 in the region, including 6-0 in the district. Their .55980 RPI makes the Cougars a 15-point favorite over Coach Walt McCombs’ Rebels, who are ranked 15th in the region. The Rebels are 7-23 overall, 2-10 in the region, and 0-6 in the district.
Monday’s opening game matches the girls’ top seed, Franklin-Simpson, against the Lady Rebels. Coach Ashley’s Taylor’s team (19-7 overall, 12-6 region, 6-0 district, 4th RPI in region at .60524) won twice over the Lady Rebels (4-21. 1-11, 1-5, 16th, .38213) by scores of 54-36 and 62-21.
In Tuesday’s opener, the second-seed Lady Cougars (16-14, 7-10, 3-3, 9th, .52038) and the third-seeded Lady Panthers (8-10, 4-7, 2-4, 12th, .46378) split decisions on the season with the visitor becoming the victor each time. Coach Jermaine Savage’s Lady Cats won 56-53 at LCHS, and Coach Dedra Adler’s Lady Cougars took the second meeting 58-52.
Perhaps the biggest question of the opening rounds: Can the Russellville Panthers make it an almost-unheard of 3-0 for the season against Coach Dee Spencer’s Franklin-Simpson Wildcats? We’ll find out in the final game of the opening round in Tuesday’s nightcap.
Coach Trey Tinsley’s Panthers beat the Wildcats 61-51 at home and 61-58 at Franklin. The Panthers (18-9, 6-7, 3-3, 11th, .52339) are a 6-point favorite over the Wildcats (8-14, 6-10, 2-4, 14th, .46311.)
The winners will move on to championships games and to the regional tournaments. The girls championship game will be played Thursday and the boys Friday. Tipoff time for both is 7 p.m.
WRUS will broadcast any district and regional game with at least one of the teams being from Russellville or Logan County.