The Russellville Panthers had a big victory of the South Warren Spartans on Friday night. The Panthers battled with the Spartans all through the game, which went into overtime, but the Panthers were able to pull through with a win of 58-56. The Panthers also had a close win of 59-58 against the Daviess County Panthers on Saturday night. These two wins bring the Panther season record to 13-8 heading into the final weeks of the season.
On Friday, the Panthers started the game against the Spartans with a small lead of 12-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Spartans turned up their game in the second quarter and were able to bring the game to a 19-19 tie going into the second half.
The Panthers were able to pull away in the third quarter, resulting in a 36-33 lead going into the final quarter of the game. The Spartans had a big fourth quarter, scoring 15 points, which put the two teams in a tie of 48-48 at the end of the fourth to put the teams into overtime.
Jordan Kennedy, Christian Naylor and Lee McMurry came through for the Panthers in overtime, outscoring the Spartans by two points to gain the win of 58-56.
Jordan Kennedy led the Panthers with 17 points toward their win. Christian Naylor finished the game with 10 points and Lee McMurry and Barrett Croslin finished with nine points each.
“This was a great win for the Panthers. I was satisfied with the defense tonight, that is something we have been focusing on,” said head coach Phil Todd. “We played hard and had a chance to fold but we didn’t and got the ball to win the game.”
The Panthers faced the Daviess County Panthers on Saturday to win the close game 60-59.
The Panthers and Daviess County battled throughout the first half, with the Panthers leading only by 24-23 going into the second half.
The Panthers were able to pull away some in the third quarter, leading 48-40 going into the second half. Daviess County was able to catch up in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers defense was able to prevent them from scoring, resulting in the 60-59 Panther victory.
Jordan Kennedy led with 17 points for the Panthers. Both Darrin Quarles and Christian Naylor contributed 16 points for the Panthers. Josh Hampton finished the game with eight points.
The Panthers will have their last home game tonight against the Franklin-Simpson Wildcats after the girls game.













