The Lady Tigers of Red Bay pose with the championship trophy from the Franklin County tournament.

by Bart Moss for the FCT

The Red Bay Tigers had to overcome a flat start and a well executed game plan by the Tharptown Wildcats to capture yet another Franklin County Tournament championship.

Red Bay held Tharptown to just four points in the second half and shut out the Wildcats in the fourth quarter to capture the title 35-26.

“We just came out flat tonight,” said Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts.  “Give Tharptown a lot of credit.  They played well.  They made good passes, especially early in the game, and did a really good job on defense.  We shot the ball worse tonight than we have all year.  Our defensive execution was just not there early on.  We are definitely going to have to play better the next few weeks if we are going to achieve our goals.”

Haley Malone and Jessica Wilson used their quickness to create some high-percentage shots early in the game helping Tharptown jump out to a 14-11 lead over Red Bay in the first quarter.  The Wildcats extended that lead to 22-15 by halftime.

“We executed well in the first half,” said Tharptown coach Chad Green.  “We moved the ball around, penetrated the land and got some good looks at the basket.  We just couldn’t buy a basket in the second half and it cost us.”

“I am really proud of our girls.  Most people probably didn’t give us a chance to stay in the game, much less have a chance to win.  Our girls did.  They showed a lot of heart out there tonight.”

Red Bay outscored Tharptown 11-4 in the third quarter to tie the game 26-26.

The Tigers got their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter when Allie Kennedy stepped to the line and hit two free throws.  Even with the fourth quarter shutout, Red Bay still only led Tharptown by two points heading into the final minute of play.  All of Red Bay’s fourth quarter points came at the free throw line.  The Tigers were 9 of 10 from the line (Kennedy was 6 for 6) in the fourth quarter.  They were 15 of 16 from the line on the night.

“Free throws pulled us through tonight,” said Roberts.  “If we hadn’t have been sharp from the line we might not have gotten the win.

Kennedy led Red Bay with 14 points on the night.  Darby Madden added 11 points for the Tigers.  Others scoring for Red Bay were Hope Cook (4), Hannah McKinney (2), Morgan Pierce (2), and Katie Burks (2).

Haley Malone led Tharptown with 12 points on the night. Others scoring for the Wildcats were Jessica Wilson (7), Kaitlyn Vandiver (5), and Kathy Alfaro (2).

Varsity Girls Semi Finals

Tharptown 42, Phil Campbell 39

Phil Campbell and Tharptown met for the fifth time this season in the semi-finals of the Franklin County Tournament.  Phil Campbell had won the previous four meetings but the fifth time was the charm for the Wildcats as they defeated the Bobcats 42-39.

Phil Campbell was leading 38-37 before Jessica Wilson sank a three-point basket with twenty-nine seconds to go in the game to give the Tharptown Wildcats a 40-38.  The Wildcats would hang onto the lead and advance to the championship.

Tharptown jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter but the Bobcats battled back to close the gap to one point at halftime 15-14.  Phil Campbell took the lead by the end of the third quarter 27-26.  Tharptown outscored Phil Campbell 16-12 in the final period of play to capture the win.

Tharptown’s Katlyn Vandiver led all scorers with 15 points.  Jessica Wilson added ten points. Others scoring for the Wildcats were Haley Malone (7), Kathy Alfaro (5), Savannah Hamilton (3), and Debbie Gomez (2).

Red Bay 60, Belgreen 22

The Red Bay Tigers jumped out to a 40-12 first half lead over the Belgreen Bulldogs and coasted to the finals of the Franklin County Tournament.

Darby Madden and Allie Kennedy led the Red Bay Tigers scoring 15 points and 14 points respectively.  Others scoring for Red Bay were Hope Cook (8), Katie Burks (8), Holly Hardin (6), Brooklyn Bolton (4), Hannah McKinney (3), and Morgan Pierce (2).

Laken Bragwell led Belgreen with nine points.  Others scoring for the Bulldogs were Allyson Bragwell (5), Nicole Borden (4), Jasmine Martin (2), Brianna Wood (1), and Emma Riley (1).