PC wins title with Benford's late shot

By Staff
Scot Beard
PHIL CAMPBELL – Phil Campbell coach Gary Odom had resisted the temptation to add Tharptown to its schedule for a simple reason – he did not want to coach against his son.
Jonathan Odom took care of that scheduling quirk when he guided his Wildcats to the title game of the Franklin County Tournament.
Jonathan's team led throughout much of the game, but it was Gary's team that hit a late shot to seal a 63-62 victory for the Bobcats.
"I'm proud for us winning," Gary said after the game. "But I hate the way it turned out (for Jonathan)."
The Wildcats clung to a 16-15 lead after the first quarter and extended the lead to 30-27 at halftime.
The Bobcats tied the score midway through the third, but Tharptown ended the quarter on a 10-5 run.
Trailing by six, Phil Campbell's Lawrence Butts hit a 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining to cut the Wildcats' lead to three points.
Trevor Hallmark extended the lead to four with a free throw, but the Bobcats' Matt Waid hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining to pull Phil Campbell within two.
Tharptown drew a foul, but both free throw attempts failed and the Bobcats brought the ball back down the floor where Jordan Benford hit a 3-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining to give Phil Campbell a 63-62 lead.
Jacob Parker drove the length of the floor for Tharptown, but his shot was after the buzzer and the Bobcats held on to win.
It was a reversal of fortune for the Bobcats who lost the county title to Red Bay last year on a last-second basket by the Tigers.
Parker scored a game-high 27 points for Tharptown including seven 3-pointers while Hallmark added 15 points.
Also scoring for the Wildcats were Tyler Cagle (7), Manny Ricardo (5), Drew Ergle (4), Mackinley Flannigan (2) and Wade Berryman (2).
Waid was the leading scorer for the Bobcats with 18 points while Butts added 13 and Pablo Santiago scored 10. Also scoring for Phil Campbell were Adam Mitchell (8), Benford (7), Austin Nix (4) and Bailey Welborn (3).