J.R. Tidwell/FCT
The Red Bay Lady Tigers celebrate after defeating the Lexington Lady Bears 44-36. Head coach Donnie Roberts is barely visible underneath Allie Kennedy (23), who ran and jumped into his arms after the final buzzer sounded. She may be scene with her arm raised in celebration. The Lady Tigers will once again advance to the Regional tournament at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville after the win.

RED BAY — The Red Bay Lady Tigers punched their ticket to the 2013 Northwest Regional tournament by beating the Lexington Lady Golden Bears 44-36 Thursday night.

Lexington came into the match with a 27-6 record and was by no means an easy opponent.

The Lady Golden Bears proved it by giving Red Bay a run for  its money for much of the contest.

The game was full of runs, but it was a 15-0 run orchestrated by the Lady Tigers and head coach Donnie Roberts that sealed the region berth for the team.

“It feels great,” Roberts said. “When Allie [Kennedy] came and jumped into my arms at the end of the game I was more excited than she was.”

Lexington got on the board first with a field goal, but Red Bay went up shortly thereafter at 3-2.

The Lady Tigers kept a close lead at 9-6 by the end of the first quarter, and at that point fans were aware of two things: the game would be low scoring, and a close one.

Lexington went back on top at 15-14 halfway through the second quarter before Red Bay answered and took back the lead at 20-18. Lexington hit two free throws to end the half with a tie score at 20-20.

There would only be two more lead changes after intermission (there were five total), but the final one would prove to be the deciding factor.

The Lady Golden Bears kept up their momentum after the break by completing a 9-0 run that put them up 27-20.

That was the largest lead by either team at the time, but Red Bay was far from done.

The Lady Tigers then held Lexington scoreless for the next nine minutes in a 15-0 run en route to the eight-point victory.

From the 4:00 mark of the third quarter to the 3:00 mark of the fourth Lexington did not score a single point, thanks in part to blocks made by Kasey Sparks and Darby Madden. Madden even blocked a 3-point attempt late in the game.

“When we got down and things weren’t going good, our girls didn’t give up, and their desire to win got them through it,” Roberts said.

Sparks led Red Bay with 15 points. She also had 12 rebounds and 4 blocks to complete a double-double.

Kennedy and Lexy Lindsey came in with 9 points each. Lindsey also had 7 rebounds

Also scoring for Red Bay were: Carlee Berry (6), Madden (3) and Elizabeth Wooten (2).

“I love going over to [Hanceville], but we will have some tough games over there,” Roberts said.

-stats kept by Jeremy Reed