Red Bay’s Darby Madden and Allie Kennedy get a hand on the ball as Belmont’s Elisiah Jones goes up for a shot. Photo by Keith Ledbetter.

By Keith Ledbetter

For the FCT

After trailing 17-13 at the end of the first quarter, and 28-24 at halftime, the Red Bay Lady Tigers came back in the fourth quarter to edge out cross-state rival Belmont (Miss.) by a score of 55-53 Friday night.

The Lady Tigers opened the game with a 9-0 lead in the early minutes thanks to a basket by Kasey Sparks and three pointers by Allie Kennedy and Elizabeth Wooten.

Wooten completed a four-point play with a foul shot to give Red Bay the early lead.

The Lady Tigers’ advantage was cut short when Belmont’s Elisiah Jones tossed in eight points in the ensuing minutes.

Natasha Jones added a three and Katelyn Nunley added a two pointer to give the Lady Cardinals a 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Red Bay’s Sparks tied the game at 24-24 on a two pointer in the second, but Belmont added four points to take a 28-24 lead at halftime.

Red Bay outscored Belmont 14-10 in the third to tie the game at 38-38 at the end of the quarter.

Belmont remained scoreless for the first couple of minutes in the fourth, while Red Bay’s Kennedy added a two pointer on a Hope Cook steal.

Cook added two foul shots and a basket to extend Red Bay’s lead by a score of 44-38.

With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Morgan Pierce added a foul shot for Red Bay and Kennedy connected on a short jumper to keep Red Bay out front 47-42.

Kennedy, Cook and Madden all added foul shots to help the Lady Tigers hold on the lead in the final minute of the game.

Red Bay’s 52-47 lead was cut down to only one point on foul shots by Belmont’s Nunley and a two pointer by Elisiah Jones.

With just 13 seconds remaining, Red Bay’s Sparks tossed in two free throws to put the Lady Tigers out front 54-51. Belmont’s Elisiah Jones added two from the line for the Lady Cardinals to cut Red Bay’s lead to 54-53.

Pierce hit one of two from the line to give Red Bay the two-point advantage. With time down to less than a second, Belmont got one last shot but couldn’t cover the length of the court on the attempt.

Red Bay outscored Belmont 17-15 in the fourth and connected on 20 out of 30 from the free throw line.

Kasey Sparks led Red Bay with 21 points, Allie Kennedy scored 12, Hope Cook connected on nine, Darby Madden scored seven, Elizabeth Wooten made six and Morgan Pierce and Carlee Berry each scored four.

Elisiah Jones led Belmont with 21, Natasha Jones added 17, Chloe Watson had seven, Katelyn Nunley added six, and Breanna Lynch added two points.

The Lady Tigers will play Central at 3 p.m. on Dec. 26 at the Lauderdale County Christmas Tournament in Rogersville.