By Bart Moss

For the FCT

The Tharptown Wildcats jumped out to an 18-point halftime lead and coasted to a 72-57 win over cross-county rival Red Bay at Tharptown Thursday night.

The Wildcats outscored the Tigers 19-6 in the first quarter and 30-15 in the second quarter to take a 49-21 lead into the locker room.

The Tigers came back in the second half outscoring Tharptown 18-12 in the third quarter and 18-11 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the first half of play.

Tharptown’s Riley Nolen led all scorers with 23 points. Kelby Hallmark followed with 18 points and Max Nolen added 10 points. Others scoring for Tharptown were Nathan Chaney (8), Blake Gray (6), Drake Lawson (3), John Staggs (3), and Heath Hatton (2).

Jesus Kelly led Red Bay with 12 points. Others scoring for the Tigers were Fred Nethery (8), Barry Reach (7), Isaiah Jackson (7), Nick Thorn (6), Jeff Gresham (6), Keenan Sparks (2), Ricky Esparza (2), and Kyle Fuller (2).