After a stellar regular season that yielded a 25-3 record and a perfect 6-0 mark in district play, the Logan County boys’ basketball team enters Tuesday’s 13th-District tournament as the clear favorite to repeat as champion. However, in a district in which each of the four teams have claimed the title within the last seven years, nothing is a sure thing.
One of the teams looking to spoil the Cougars’ coronation is Todd County Central, winners of the 2017/18 championship. The Rebels open against Franklin-Simpson on Tuesday, hoping the third time is a charm against the Wildcats. Franklin-Simpson, looking for its first title since 2016/17, won both regular season meetings with the Rebels by an average of just over 18 points.
The Rebels will need to put the defensive clamps on Franklin-Simpson’s Kyjuan Stutzman, who averaged 21 points in the two victories, if they are to advance to Friday’s title game.
In the other semifinal, top-seeded Logan County meets up with Russellville. The host Panthers struggled to a 6-20 record and were winless in district play, while suffering the longest title drought among the four teams.
The Cougars boast a balanced attack with three players averaging double figures, with Jay Hardison leading the way at 14.2 a game, followed by Anthony Woodard with 13.6 and Jose Nazario at 13.4.
Russellville will look Jaquis Todd to carry the scoring load in what would be a huge upset. Todd put up 16.3 ppg during the season to lead the Panthers, while scoring right on his average in the two regular season losses to the Cougars.
