Trailing by five points and appearing to be on the ropes after three quarters on Saturday night, Todd County Central’s Jamison Glass spearheaded a rally with 15 fourth-quarter points to lead the Rebels to a 61-52 victory over visiting 13th-District rivals Russellville.
The Panthers came into the contest at 3-14 and were without leading scorer Octavious McKeage due to illness, but they got off to a strong start behind ten points from Eli McMurry. The Rebels countered with 12 from Glass, and his dunk made it 8-4 early before Russellville moved in front 11-8 on a three-pointer by McMurry with two minutes left in the opening frame. The lead changed hands five times in the first quarter before Glass’ bucket in the lane tied it at 18-18.
The teams battled back and forth over the first three minutes of the second until Jamarion Gardner’s steal and layup put Russellville in front 26-23 and forced a Rebel timeout. Hayden Strader drilled a three-pointer out of the break and followed with a pair of free throws, but Jerius Coleman’s three pushed the Panthers back in front by a point and they led 32-29 after the first half.
Strader’s layup with three minutes left in the third gave Todd Central a 37-35 edge, but the Rebels were outscored 9-2 over the remainder of the quarter to trail 44-39 and set the stage for Glass’ fourth-quarter heroics.
Glass erupted for a personal 11-2 run over the first four and a half minutes of the final frame, and the Rebels surged in front 53-46 after Strader’s second three of the night. A pull-up jumper and a putback from Strader stretched the margin to ten with a minute left, and Glass knocked down four straight free throws to finish 7-7 down the stretch.
The Rebels won their seventh straight in the series to pick up their first district victory of the season and even their record at 8-8. Up next is a district rematch with Franklin-Simpson on Friday before they head to Logan County to overturn a 12-point loss to the Cougars earlier this season.
Glass led all scorers with 33 points, followed by Strader with 16 for the Rebels.
McMurry scored 24 for the Panthers, including six in the fourth quarter, and Gardner finished with 12.
Russellville 18 14 12 8 — 52
Todd Central 18 11 10 22 — 61
Russellville (3-14) — McMurry 24, Gardner 12, Coleman 7, Temple-Dickerson 4, Bertram 3, Morrow 2
Todd Central (8-8) — Glass 33, Strader 16, Moore 4, Coleman 3, Toliver 3, Reding 2
