Tharptown has year to remember
Tharptown varsity boys basketball coach Jonathan Odom guided the Wildcats to a school-record 23 games and was named the Class 1A Coach of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
THARPTOWN — In the young history of the athletic program at Tharptown High School girls teams have been the ones to reach important milestones before their male counterparts.
During the 2010-11 school year, however, it was the boys time to shine.
The varsity boys basketball team set records for wins and became the first squad in school history to earn a berth in the Northwest Regional Basketball Tournament at Wallace State.
The varsity baseball team fell short of clinching a playoff spot, but put the disappointment in the rearview mirror to end Phil Campbell’s run of county titles after 15 years of dominance.
Odom’s recognition
As head coach of Tharptown’s basketball team, Jonathan Odom helped guide the Wildcats to new heights.
Tharptown, which had won 27 games in the program’s history entering the season, won a school-record 23 games in 2010-11. The Wildcats won a pair of games against a ranked Belgreen team on Belgreen’s court — the second victory gave Tharptown the area title and the right to host a sub-regional game.
Odom’s contributions to helping build the Wildcats into a contender were recognized by the Alabama Sports Writers Association in March when the organization named him the Class 1A Coach of the Year.
The future looks bright for Tharptown. Although the Wildcats will be losing some key players from this year’s squad a solid group of young players are returning that could guide Tharptown to new levels of success in the coming years.
End of an era
When the baseball team finished the area schedule with a pair of losses to Vina to finish short of qualifying for the playoffs for the second season in a row, head coach Derek Ergle was worried about how his team would respond in the county tournament.
He wasted his time worrying. The Wildcats stunned Vina 10-6 in the opening game of the tournament to clinch a spot in the championship game against Phil Campbell.
The Bobcats gained an early lead on Tharptown and appeared to be well on its way to winning its 16th consecutive county title until the Wildcats put together a little late-inning magic.
Trailing 3-0 entering the seventh inning the Wildcats tied the game on a two-RBI hit by William Washington to send the game into extra innings.
In the eighth inning Wade Berryman drove in two runs with a double for Tharptown and Brandon Cothrum shut down the Phil Campbell batters in the bottom of the inning to give the Wildcats the county title.
