The No. 8 seed Thunderbirds were unable to recover from a 32-16 halftime deficit in Friday night's 55-43 loss to the No. 7 Indians in the fifth-place game of the South Callaway Invitational Tournament.
Senior guard Brandon Hagedorn and junior guard Braden Shramek led North Callaway (3-10) with 14 points apiece. Shramek connected on four 3-pointers and collected six rebounds, while Hagedorn handed out four assists.
"Russellville outplayed us," Thunderbirds head coach Matt Thomas said. "We started to play better in the second half, but we have to play 32 minutes."
Levi Anderson countered with a game-high 26 points to guide Russellville (5-8), while Beau Bryant contributed 10.
North Callaway hosts non-conference foe Missouri Military Academy at 6 p.m. Tuesday.