Starters score all Logan County points in win over Rebels

RUSSELLVILLE — For the Logan County boys’ basketball team, 13 years was long enough.

The Cougars jumped out to a big lead early and survived a late charge, defeating Todd County Central 88-73 Monday in the first round of the District 13 Tournament at Russellville High School.

The victory put Logan County back in the regional final for the first time since 1998.

“We really didn’t look at that much tonight,” Logan County coach Harold Tackett said. “I knew, just looking at Todd County over the last few weeks, that they had improved so much. Todd County fought us tooth and nail.”

The Cougars (21-9, 7-0 district) will face the winner of Franklin-Simpson and Russellville, who play at 8 p.m. tonight.

Logan County’s five starters scored all the Cougars’ points.

Twin Lancaster led all scorers with 29 points, while Jermaine Collier finished with 20.

“We haven’t been in the region final in a long time,” Lancaster said. “And that was our goal this year, was to go to region. But we want to finish district up and win that Friday, then go to region and play hard up there.”

Logan County’s full-court press rattled the Rebels in the opening quarter. Todd County-Central (9-22, 1-6 district) turned the ball over 12 times in the first five minutes.

Logan County’s speed converted those turnovers into a 17-0 lead to start the game. Many of the scores were fast-break points, including several dunks.

“Their pressure up front just rattled us in the first quarter,”Todd County-Central coach Calvin Head said. “It was just too much of a lead for us to come back.”

The Cougars added to the lead the rest of the quarter and took a 31-6 lead with less than two minutes left.

The second quarter was a different story.

Logan County got into some foul trouble and was forced to back off the backcourt pressure defense.

The Rebels cut their turnovers in half, committing six for the quarter. Todd County-Central also cut into the Cougars’ lead, trailing 46-34 at halftime.

“All five starters had three or more fouls,” Tackett said. “I knew if we continued to press, we would look really good until third quarter, then risk people fouling out. We elected to pull back our traps.”

Todd County-Central went on an 8-0 run midway in the third quarter and cut the lead to 54-45. Logan County pushed the back to 12 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Rebels made a push in the fourth quarter and put themselves in position to make a run for the win when C.J. Broderick sank two free throws to cut the lead to six with 5:25 left to play in the game.

“That is what I love about this team is that they have a lot of heart,” Head said. “They have a lot fight. They have a lot of drive and we are going to miss that.”

Logan County turned on the jets and went on a 10-0 run to take a 80-62 lead with two minutes left in the game.

“We played a really tough schedule this year and we had been in a lot of those situations,” Tackett said. “We knew we were going to have a really good team and that’s why we scheduled those games, to get us ready for games like this.”

TCC 10 24 18 21 – 73

LCHS 33 13 18 24 – 88

TCC — Brown 24, Naylor 17, Henry 11, Hoosier 11, Broderick 6, Stewart 4

LCHS — Lancaster 29, Collier 20, Harper 16, Martin 12, Graham 11

Todd County Central 55, Franklin-Simpson 35

Todd County Central defeated Franklin-Simpson 55-35 in the first round of the Girls’ District 13 Tournament at Russellville High School.

The Lady Rebels (21-6, 7-0 district) were led by Ariel Johnson, who finished with 22 points.

Todd County-Central will play the winner of Logan County and Russellville at 6 p.m. Friday.

Tasia Covington led Franklin-Simpson (14-17, 1-6 district) with 14 points.

FSHS 2 4 14 15 –35

TCC 12 12 13 18 –55

FSHS– Covington 14, Gooch 9, Curtis 7, Mclroy 2, Reetzke 2, Brooks 1.

TCC– A. Johnson 22, Hart 12, Simons 7, D. Rose 6, K. Rose 4, F. Johnson 2, Fox 2.