Russellville’s remarkable area winning streak ends in area championship, West Point takes title 59-53

The Russellville High School varsity boys’ basketball team’s brilliant run of form against area competition came to an end Tuesday night as the Golden Tigers lost at home to the West Point Warriors in the Class 5A Area 15 championship.

After trailing by 19 in the third period, Russellville, looking to win its fifth-straight area title, nearly mounted an incredible comeback and erased the deficit to one point with under a minute left to play. 

Unfortunately for the hosts they couldn’t complete the coup and ultimately fell 59-53.

The result marks Russellville’s first defeat to an area opponent since January 2022 and first home area loss in over four years.

“I think sometimes when you’ve had the continued success that we’ve had, sometimes people can start taking it for granted that it’s just gonna happen,” Russellville head coach Patrick Odom said. “I’m not saying that’s what we did, but it’s hard. It’s a credit to what we’ve done but tonight shows just how hard it is. We’ve been on the positive side of things, but tonight we were not.”

In the first half nothing seemed to go Russellville’s way. The Golden Tigers turned the ball over frequently, missed even some of the most open lay-ups, and couldn’t buy a basket even at the free throw line where they finished the night 14-of-25. At the end of the first half the hosts trailed by 17 points, 29-12.

“Anybody that’s watched us play all year knows that we didn’t play well in the first half,” Odom said. “I thought it’s kind of a microcosm of what an area tournament is. We’re the team that everybody expects to win. I thought we played very tight. I thought (West Point) played very loose. You look up and you get into foul trouble…and all of sudden you’re down 17 and we had played just terrible.”

Going into the second half things looked like they could get even worse for Russellville as West Point took its biggest lead of the night early in the third, up 19 points. After that, though, it was like a switch flipped for the Golden Tigers. Playing a very aggressive press RHS was able to force turnovers and convert on fast-break opportunities. 

Russellville still wasn’t at its most efficient shooting from the field or hitting free throws, but it was a far cry from the first half—enough to bring the home fans back into the game and make the visitors sweat. At the end of the third the Golden Tigers had cut the deficit to 11 points and with five minutes to play trailed by just four points.

For the next few minutes the two teams traded baskets, but with just under 60 seconds in regulation Russellville got a steal in West Point’s half which senior EJ King, who finished the game with 29 points, converted into a lay-up, slashing the Warriors’ lead to just one-point, 54-53. It was the closest the game had been since the opening seconds.

Then, as methodically as Russellville had nibbled away at West Point’s advantage, it was all quickly out of hand again. The suffocating press that had worked so well for the Golden Tigers the last 15 minutes was cracked in the last 30 seconds as the Warriors hit two open lay-ups and kept RHS from converting on the other end. The comeback failed.

“I love how the kids played in the second half. Obviously, this time of year, the biggest lesson is you can’t fall that far behind,” Odom said. “We had multiple chances at the end, but credit (West Point). Having to beat people three times in a row, it’s really difficult when you’re playing good teams.

“I told our guys I still love them, I still believe in them, we just didn’t play well enough early to win the game tonight,” he added.

Finishing as the runner-up in Area 15 means the Golden Tigers will travel to Area 16 champion East Limestone, the No. 4 team in the state, for their subregion game.

Odom said losing the area championship doesn’t change the team’s mindset. The goal is still the same, the Golden Tigers just have to take a detour to get there.

“What we tell our guys is the truth: We still play Saturday, our route’s just changed,” Odom said. “We’ve gotta be ready to play playoff basketball, but we’ve gotta play 32 complete minutes. This time of year, if you don’t, you’re gonna get hit the way we did tonight.

“We know we’re still a good team. We know what we’re capable of. We’ve just gotta be able to relax and trust ourselves,” he added.

“We know we’ve gotta respond because on Saturday it’s win or go home.”