Red Bay falls to Sheffield in semifinals
The Red Bay Tigers’ season came to an end on their home court in the Northwest Regional semifinals, losing to the Sheffield Bulldogs 63-44.
“Sheffield was the better team tonight,” said Red Bay Coach John Torisky. “I think they shot the ball extremely well and forced us to play at their pace. We were just a little off tonight, which is a credit to Sheffield’s pressure.”
Sheffield’s pressure defense didn’t allow Red Bay many good looks at the basket, and when the Tigers got the shots, they just would not fall. Red Bay went one-for–seven from the field in the third quarter and didn’t hit a field goal in the fourth quarter until the game was out of reach.
Red Bay was leading 22-20 with 1:53 to go in the second quarter.
It would be the Tigers’ last lead of the game. Sheffield went on a 12-2 run to close out the half to take a 32-22 lead into the locker room.
Red Bay cut the lead to seven, 35-28, with 2:52 to go in the third quarter on a Lane Shewbart layup following a nice pass from fellow senior Braden Ray.
From that point, it was all Sheffield. The Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to close out the third quarter and take a 43-30 lead. The Bulldogs extended their lead 48-30 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Ray led Red Bay with 13 points. Shewbart followed with nine points. Jalen Vinson added seven points, Carson Corum six points, Gage Bays six points and Andrew Ray three points.
“This group of seniors have been to four regionals, a Final Four and won 85 games. They are a great group of young men, and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” said Torisky.
SUBREGION: Red Bay 61, Winston County 34
The Red Bay Tigers cruised to an easy sub–region win over the Winston County Yellow Jackets 61-34 Saturday. The win earned the Tigers the right to host the Sheffield Bulldogs in the semifinals.
Red Bay established dominance early on in the game, taking a 22-12 first quarter lead. The Tigers extended their lead to 39-25 by halftime.
Red Bay put the game out of reach in the third quarter, outscoring Winston County 11-2 to take a 50-27 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ray led Red Bay with 16 points. He was followed by Landon Glover with nine points, Bays with eight points, Vinson with seven points, Andrew Ray with five points and Corum with three points. Alex Kennedy, Shewbart and Aiden Quinn scored two points each.
