Saturday was a big day for Russellville High School basketball, as both the boys' and girls' teams celebrated their district title wins together, for the first time ever.
"It's the first time the girls and boys have won the district championship in the same year," RHS senior Kennedy Volkart said. "So it's pretty exciting."
The top-seeded Russellville girls were up first Saturday at the Class 2 District 8 Tournament at RHS, where the Lady Indians defeated #2 seeded Linn 59-36 to grab the title.
Russellville led the entire game, 17-8, 32-24 and 44-32, then outscored the Lady Wildcats 15-14 in the final frame to secure the win.
Hannah Campbell led Russellville with 16 points, followed by A.J. Grellner with 14 and Kennedy Volkart with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lady Indians (15-13) advance to Class 2 Sectionals today (Wednesday), where they will play Sturgeon (25-2) at 7:45 p.m. at Jefferson City High School's Fleming Fieldhouse.
Previously in the tourney, after defeating #8 seeded Smithton in the first round Feb. 18, the Lady Indians defeated #5 seeded New Bloomfield 50-32 Feb. 20 in the semifinal round.
Russellville outscored New Bloomfield 12-11 in the first quarter and 12-2 in the second to lead 24-13 at the half. The Lady Indians went on to outscore the Lady Wildcats 26-19 in the second half to take the win.
Russellville was led by Campbell and Hannah Matthews with 15 points each. Volkart followed with 12 points and led rebounds with 11.
After the Lady Indians' championship game, the #4 seeded Indians faced #2 seeded Tipton in the Class 2 District 8 championship game, where Russellville came from behind in the first half to capture the title, 54-53.
Tipton (19-8) led 14-10 and 20-18, however, Russellville had pulled ahead 37-30 after three quarters. The fourth quarter was a battle to the end with the Cardinals outscoring the Indians 23-17, which just wasn't enough to take over the lead.
Brenden Jackson led Russellville with 27 points, followed by Dakota Burgess with 10. Levi Anderson chipped in with nine points and led rebounds with 13.
Russellville (21-7) advances to Class 2 Sectionals today (Wednesday), where the Indians will play Salisbury (26-1) at y p.m. at Jefferson City High School.
Previously in the district tourney, the Indians defeated #5 seeded Belle 75-61 in the opening round Feb. 19 to advance to semifinals.
Chandler Wolf led the Indians with 30 points, followed by Jackson with 28. Burgess added 12 points.
Russellville then faced top-seeded Cole Camp in the semifinal round Friday, where the Indians captured a 69-66 victory thanks to a huge 3-point shot by Dakota Burgess at the final buzzer.