By Staff
Scot Beard
RED BAY – The Red Bay varsity girls basketball team clinched its second consecutive trip to the Northwest Region Tournament Thursday night with a 72-56 victory against Oakman in the sub-region round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
The Lady Tigers had five players reach double-digit scoring as they recorded their 25th win of the season, a feat not accomplished at Red Bay since 2003.
"We didn't get off to a quick start," said Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts. "They didn't give us much off the press."
Red Bay held a slim 11-10 lead after the first quarter, but after abandoning the press for a half-court man defense, the Lady Tigers began to pick up the pace.
They pulled ahead a couple of times in the second only to see Oakman battle back to tie the game. Red Bay broke open a 23-23 tie with a 10-1 run late and took a 12-point advantage into halftime.
The Lady Tigers continued to dominate in the third quarter and built a 53-37 lead heading into the final quarter.
Oakman reduced its deficit to 11 points, but the Lady Tigers were able to pull away late.
"I was pleased we scored 72 points, and I am sure glad to win," Roberts said.
Whitney Sharp led Red Bay with 15 points while Morgan Duncan added 14, Caitlin Childers scored 13, Hannah Sharp added 12 and Kirsten Sharp scored 11 points.
Also scoring for Red Bay were Britan Bolding (6) and Lauren Williams (1).
With the win, the Lady Tigers secured their first back-to-back Northwest Region Tournament appearance since 2002-03.
Red Bay will play defending Class 2A state champion Cold Springs at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville.