Overtime games highlight tourney
Red Bay’s Cory Timbs attempts to block a shot by Vina’s Tyler Hammock during the Tigers’ 10-8 overtime victory Tuesday night. | Scot Beard/FCT
THARPTOWN — There have been many games in the history of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament that could be called classic games.
Red Bay’s game against Vina Tuesday will probably not be considered a classic, but it will be talked about for a long time.
In the end people will not be discussing the free throw in the final second of regulation to send the game to overtime or the buzzer beater to give the Tigers the victory.
What people will be talking about is the final score — Red Bay 10, Vina 8.
Red Bay’s Hunter Childers put the Tigers ahead 2-0 and Austin Malone hit a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 5-0 before Vina coach Sonny Tibbs slowed the pace of the game.
Vina players held onto the ball to run down the clock and with his team leading, Red Bay coach Greg Cash had no problems with allowing the clock to expire.
The Red Devils held onto the ball for the entire second quarter. They attempted a shot, but did not score and headed to the locker room trailing 5-0.
Red Bay decided to stick with Tibbs’ strategy in the third quarter and allowed clock to run down. Childers added another basket to increase the Tigers’ lead to 7-0.
The pace of play picked late in the fourth quarter and Vina’s Patrick White put the Red Devils on the scoreboard before Nickey Miller added a 3-pointer moments later to cut Red Bay’s lead to 7-5.
Tyler Hammock scored for Vina to tie the game and was fouled on the shot. He hit his free throw to give the Red Devils their first lead of the game 8-7 in the final minute of regulation.
It looked like Tibbs’ strategy would pay off, but Red Bay’s Steven Nabers drew a foul with 0.8 seconds remaining. Nabers hit one of his two free throws to send the game into overtime.
Red Bay gained possession and allowed the clock to run for several minutes before running a play. Vina pulled down a rebound and set up its offense.
With 4.5 seconds remaining in overtime, Vina was called for a walk and Red Bay took possession.
Malone drove down the court and fit a buzzer beater to send the Tigers home victorious.
Malone led all scorers with five points. Hunter Childers added four points for Red Bay while Nabers scored one point.
Miller and Hammock led Vina with three points each while White added two points.
With the win, the Tigers advanced to Thursday’s semifinal game against top-seeded Belgreen.
This time Red Bay was able to play a fast-paced game and again went into overtime, but came out on the losing end 47-46.
With the game tied 12-12 in the second quarter, Red Bay went on a 9-6 run to take a three-point advantage into halftime and led by as many as five points in the fourth quarter.
Belgreen’s Josh DeVaney tied the game with a 3-pointer and another score.
Red Bay built a 42-39 lead late in the game before Jake Tittle hit a3-pointer with 21.5 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
Tittle scored early and Red Bay’s Ben Hubbard tied the game with a pair of free throws. Childers then scored to give the Tigers a 46-44 advantage.
Belgreen’s Brian Vance drew a foul and hit one of his free throws to pull the Bulldogs within one point.
Red Bay had an opportunity to add to its lead with 30.5 seconds remaining, but Hubbard missed the front end of a one-and-one.
DeVaney scored with 1.6 seconds remaining and Red Bay’s shot attempt at the buzzer sailed high, giving the Bulldogs a trip to the finals.
Chaney Simmons led Belgreen with 15 points — all from 3-pointers — while DeVaney scored 12. Also scoring for the Bulldogs were Vance (7), Tittle (6), Tyler Medina (3), Samuel Melecio (2) and Cody Glasgow (2).
Cory Timbs was the leading scorer for Red Bay with 15 points while Nabers added seven points. Also scoring for the Tigers were Cody Reynolds (6), Childers (6), Chase Lindsey (4), Blake Brummett (4), Malone (2) and Hubbard (2).
Phil Campbell 58, Vina 48
The varsity girls bracket opened with Phil Campbell holding off a late Vina rally to advance to the semifinals.
The Lady Bobcats led by six points at the end of the first quarter and increased their lead to 39-16 by halftime.
The Lady Red Devils mounted a furious comeback and cut the deficit back down to six points in the fourth quarter, but Phil Campbell ended the game on a 4-0 run to secure the win.
Ciara Harville led the Lady Bobcats with 19 points while Autumn Thomas scored 18 points and Amber Chaney added 11 points. Also scoring for Phil Campbell were Taylor Scott (6), Whitley Yocum (2) and Sarah Hilliard (2).
Claudia Townsend and Andrea Parrish scored 10 points each to lead Vina. Also scoring for the Lady Red Devils were Jessica Pickle (9), Shelby Boyd (8), Fallyn Shotts (5), Miranda Howard (4) and Courtney Watson (2).
With the win the Lady Bobcats advanced to the semifinals against Red Bay.
Red Bay 69, Phil Campbell 46
With the Lady Tigers leading 35-20 at halftime, Red Bay’s Hannah Sharp scored 15 of her game-high 25 points in the third quarter to help Red Bay advance to the finals of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament.
Two other Red Bay players reached double-digit scoring as Jade Ezzell scored 11 points and Lauren Pacetti scored 10 points. Also scoring for the Lady Tigers were Lexy Lindsey (8), Whitney Sharp (5), Alaina Hester (5), Morgan McKinney (3) and Leah Fuller (2).
Harville led the Lady Bobcats with 18 points while Scott scored 10 points. Also scoring for Phil Campbell were Thomas (8), Yocum (6) and Chaney (4).
Friday’s Games
Friday’s semifinal games of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament concluded too late to be included in today’s edition of The Franklin County Times. Please visit www.fct.wpengine.com for the scores of these games.
Tourney finals
The finals of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament will begin at 5 p.m. tonight at Tharptown with the B-Team boys followed by the varsity girls final and then the varsity boys final.
