J.R. Tidwell/FCT Phil Campbell’s Autumn Thomas (22) drives around Allyson Bragwell (32) of the Belgreen Lady Bulldogs Tuesday night at NWSCC. Thomas had 9 points for PCHS in the game while Bragwell had 7 for BHS.

PHIL CAMPBELL — The last time that the Phil Campbell Lady Bobcats and Belgreen Lady Bulldogs met on the hardwood, the Lady Bobcats came away with a 50-36 win in Belgreen.

The winner of Tuesday night’s return match proved to be the same, but what was much different was how contested the contest was and how close the final score proved to be.

Phil Campbell won the rivalry game 46-43 after barely holding off a last-second comeback by Belgreen.

“We didn’t play well on defense tonight,” Phil Campbell head coach Darit Riddle said.

“They got hot in the fourth quarter and made a comeback. We’ve just got to do a better job on defense.”

The first quarter of the match was neck and neck. Belgreen went up 8-2, but Phil Campbell went on a run and took a small 10-8 lead.

It was 14-12 Phil Campbell at the start of the second quarter, which saw the Lady Bobcats go on a 13-7 run to take a 27-19 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Neither team got much offense going in the third quarter after the break.

The Lady Bobcats scored seven points and the Lady Bulldogs scored six.

Phil Campbell had a nine-point lead when the fourth quarter started, and the Lady Bobcats were able to keep that gap until late I the fourth when the Lady Bulldogs went on a late run at the end of the game.

Phil Campbell had a 43-36 lead when Belgreen went on a 7-3 run, bringing the score to within three points after a 3-pointer by Laken Bragwell with 04.5 seconds remaining in the game.

However, the surging Belgreen simply ran out of time, and the Lady Bobcats preserved the win.

“We have to keep working at it and try to do a better on defense,” Riddle said.

“I don’t know what the other county teams’ records are, but we’ll be a 3 or 4 seed going into the county tournament.

“We’re trying to build some momentum going in. We played good against Danville and we won tonight, so we’ll see.”

Hope Cook was the leading scorer for Phil Campbell with 20 on the night. Autumn Thomas totaled 9 and Vicky McAlister had 8.

Also scoring for the Lady Bobcats were: Tori Pace (4), Madison Hardy (4) and Courtney Baker (1).

Lexie Bragwell led Belgreen and the game in points with 21.

Laken Bragwell added 9, Allyson Bragwell contributed 7 and Hanna Taylor totaled 6.