Lady Tigers beat Lexington 32-31
HANCEVILLE – Since the start of the Class 2A, Area 12 Tournament the Red Bay varsity girls basketball team has locked opponents down on defense. Tuesday the Lady Tigers got a dose of their own medicine when Lexington held them to four points during the second and third quarters of the Northwest Regional Tournament.
Red Bay was able to get the offense going when it needed to and, thanks to a late score by Hannah Sharp, edged the Lady Golden Bears 32-31.
“I thought we were going to have a good contest,” said Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts. “We matched up well.”
Red Bay took control early and built a 14-4 lead early in the second quarter. When it looked like the Lady Tigers would run away with another game Lexington buckled down by solving Red Bay’s defense while putting the brakes on the Lady Tigers’ offense. Lexington outscored Red Bay 12-2 in the second quarter.
Neither team could break through the other’s defense in a third quarter in which Lexington outscored Red Bay 3-2.
The Lady Tigers trailed by as many as five points in the fourth quarter, but chipped away and took the lead on a 3-pointer by Sharp then extended the lead to 28-25 when Morgan McKinney scored.
Lexington scored then hit a pair of free throws to regain the lead. Both teams scored in the final minute and with Lexington clinging to a 31-30 advantage Red Bay called a timeout. The Lady Tigers inbounded the ball and Sharp hit the game winning shot with 4.1 seconds to play.
“Hannah Sharp made a play to win the game,” said Lexington coach Justin Chandler. “We had hands in her face.”
Chandler said the difference in the game was rebounding. Red Bay finished with 33 total rebounds while Lexington recorded 25 rebounds. Red Bay pulled down 24 defensive rebounds while Lexington was only able to get 11 offensive rebounds.
Whitney Sharp led the Lady Tigers with 12 points while Hannah Sharp scored nine points. Also scoring for Red Bay were McKinney (5), Jade Ezzell (4) and Kasey Sparks (2).
Haven Albright scored a game-high 13 points to lead Lexington.
With the win Red Bay advances to the Northwest Regional Tournament finals and will play the winner of the Cold Springs-Tanner game. The finals will be at 3:40 p.m. Friday.
