Cyclones Cut Down the Nets on Senior Night

After watching the Lady Cyclones put the mercy rule on the girl’s squad from Conway, The Russellville guys thought they would join the party with a 49-45 win over the Wampus Cats themselves.

Conway and Russellville both started the game looking quite sharp on the offensive side of the ball, moving the basketball and converting on open shots. Senior Chris Washington got the ball rolling for the Cyclones, getting two early baskets and a block helping the Cyclones to a 15-13 lead at the end of the first.

In the second quarter, good ball movement around the zone defense of Conway allowed for Eric Turner, who had 12 points on the night, to get hot from long distance, knocking down three of Russellville’s four triples for the quarter. The sharp three-point shooting as well as an old fashioned three point play led the Cyclones to a 30-20 halftime lead, as Russellville outscored Conway 15-7 in the second quarter.

As hot as the Cyclones came out in the second quarter, the Wampus Cats came out just as hot in the third, opening the quarter on an 11-2 run. Brandon George was finally able to stop the bleeding with a couple of free throw followed by a another triple from Eric Turner giving Russellville a 37-31 lead and bit of momentum going into the final quarter.

Russellville opened the quarter with a very patient offense with which the main goal was to milk the clock, but that did not continue too long due to a three from Tim Boyd of Conway. After the quick Wampus Cat basket, the Russellville boys dissected Conway’s zone defense, getting two back-to-back baskets at the rim from seniors Jordan Barrett and Brandon George. Although he did not come up with a huge scoring night, senior Grey Harris came up with two huge plays late, including a lay-in to extend the lead to 47-43 and then a late rebound to effectively seal the game for the Cyclones.

Players, friends and family followed up the big victory with the net cutting to celebrate their 7A/6A Central title, the first since the 1993-1994 season.