Sports Briefs

By Staff
Franklin County Times
Basketball scores
December 21
Girls
Tharptown 67
Athens Bible 46
Phillips 68
Belgreen 51
Red Bay splits with Cherokee
CHEROKEE – The Red Bay girls rebounded from a Thursday home loss to Belmont (Miss.) to beat Cherokee 47-30 Friday night.
The Lady Tigers led by 21 points at halftime as 10 players scored for Red Bay.
Morgan Duncan led Red Bay (12-3) with nine points, while Aimee Jackson, Tiffany McWilliams and Caitlin Childers each had six points.
Kelvonda Nightingale had a team-high 11 points for Cherokee (0-13).
The Red Bay varsity boys missed a game-tying 3-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter as Cherokee won 63-60.
The Indians (9-3), who were led by D.J. Brooks' 22 points, clinched a second-place finished in Class 2A, Area 16 with the win.
Grant Fancher scored a team-high 16 points, while Derrick Miller, Justin Page and Curtis Morrell all finished with 12 points for the Tigers.
Budget cuts force NW-Shoals to drop three sports
MUSCLE SHOALS – Northwest-Shoals Community College will eliminate three athletic teams, men's cross country, men's golf and women's tennis, effective fall 2008, according to Athletic Administrator, Charles Taylor.
"Athletics is an important part of our college program, and to make this decision today was very difficult," Taylor said. "We will now have the spring semester to help our freshmen athletes find other colleges and universities to continue their athletic interests."
NW-SCC President Humphrey Lee added, "It is very disheartening to have to make expenditure cuts to programs that have impact on student opportunities.
However, our hope is that we are setting our existing teams up to succeed rather than asking them to survive on such minimal operating budgets."
Scholarship student athletes affected on each of the three teams will continue to have their existing scholarships honored by the college as long as they maintain National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) eligibility requirements.
Covenanat Chr. sweeps Vina
VINA – The Covenant Christian varsity boys beat Vina 55-29 Thursday night, while the girls beat the Lady Red Devils 57-36.
Vina's Morgan McCarley had a team-high nine points, while Brent Townsend and B.J. Beard each scored six.
Heather Holland led Vina with 16 points, and Lizette Martinez and Jessie Norwood each had eight.
UNA-Marriott Shoals Classic
December 29-30
FLORENCE – The University of North Alabama women's basketball program will host the Marriott Shoals Classic Dec. 29-30 at Flowers Hall.
UNA will play St. Leo Dec. 29 at 4 p.m. and Kentucky Wesleyan Dec. 30 at 4 p.m., and admission is free to both games.
Millenium Run
December 31
The annual Millenium Run 5K and 1-Mile Fun Run will be held Monday, December 31. The race is the only midnight run in north Alabama, and it will be held at First Baptist Church in Killen beginning at 11:45 p.m. For more information, contact Frank Spires at fspires@spiresandassociations.com or (256) 760-9502.