Russellville tames Tigers 86-61 at Red Bay

The Russellville High School varsity boys’ basketball team came out on top in its road county clash against the Red Bay Tigers on Monday night. Following up on a close 75-70 home win over the Deshler Tigers to start the season, the Golden Tigers ran away with it against Red Bay, taming the hosts 86-61.

“We’re 2-0 and that’s where we wanted to be,” Russellville head coach Patrick Odom said. “Our guys are playing with great effort.

“I like these guys. They’re playing together. I feel like everybody’s kind of understanding their role, and so far it’s a fun team to coach because of that,” Odom added.

Fun to coach for Odom and surely fun for Golden Tiger fans to watch. Russellville and Red Bay both played fast-paced basketball Monday night and pushed it up and down the court, each getting their opportunities on turnovers and in transition. In the end, though, it was Russellville that made the most of its chances. Russellville’s reigning all-state guard EJ King was, per usual, a force to be reckoned with, leading all scorers with 29 points. Not far behind him was Jah Williams, who dropped 23 points. Together the two seniors accounted for over half of Russellville’s offensive production, but five other Golden Tigers pitched in, as well. Parker Odom hit three three-pointers to give him nine points, while junior Cameron Phinizee, who came alive in the fourth quarter, totaled 16 points. Zaye Hubbard, Malachi Groce, and Daniel Aycock added a handful of baskets, too.

“EJ is EJ. We know he’s a great player, but Jah’s been great, too,” Odom said. “It sure helps when you’ve got guys like Jah and EJ with as much experience as they have and play with the motor that they have.

“We’ve had great contributions all across the board. We have some other guys step up, make some shots tonight. So, you know, as long as we continue to play tough—and again, we gotta have guys making shots to take pressure off EJ because he’s gonna have a lot of bodies thrown at him just like he did tonight. But our guys understand their roles. We gotta clean some things up, but we like how we’re playing.”

Russellvillle and Red Bay battled basket-for-basket for much of the opening period, but after the first eight minutes the Golden Tigers led 21-15. The hosts’ tall sharpshooter Khalil Luster, who finished with 28 points and a game-high four three-pointers, gave the Golden Tigers a lot to think about throughout, but the visitors were able to contain Red Bay’s other shooters to 10 points or less. After each period, Russellville continued to extend its lead and really had the game tucked away after outscoring Red Bay 23-14 in the third period.

Odom was, overall, pleased with his team’s performance on Monday, but like most early-season games it highlighted some areas the Golden Tigers still want to improve in. The Russellville head coach, now in his 10th season with the program, said the Golden Tigers will try to clean up some of their mistakes while maintaining momentum as some difficult opponents lie ahead.

“There were some defensive things,” he said. “We’re a better defensive team than we played tonight. A little bit sloppy at times with execution and turnovers.

“We turn around. We’ve got a couple days off for Thanksgiving and then we host (Class) 7A Austin on Monday, so we’re going to get challenged, but that’s what we want. It’s about us continuing to grow each and every night.”