By Brannon King

For the FCT

The Tharptown Lady Wildcats picked up a big 54-38 win over the Belgreen Lady Bulldogs to clinch first place in the area.

Kamri Sears of Tharptown scored eight of her game-high 17 points in the third quarter which helped the Wildcats pull away for the home victory.

The two teams got off to a slow start as tough defense and physical play led to few points. Belgreen led after the first quarter by a score of 8-7.

Tharptown used a balanced attack to get things going in the second quarter. Five Lady Wildcats scored in the period and Tharptown took a 20-15 lead into the half.

The Wildcats came out strong in the second half using a press defense leading to many Belgreen turnovers and empty possessions. Tharptown was able to outscore Belgreen by a 23-8 score in the third period.

Belgreen fought back in the final quarter outscoring Tharptown by four points in the period, but the Tharptown lead was too much to overcome.

Danielle Creasy of Tharptown scored 11 points in the win, which was second on the team behind the 17 points by Sears.  Savannah Hamilton also scored in double figures for the Wildcats with 10. She was followed by Haley Malone (8), Kathy Alfaro (3), Kaitlyn Vandiver (3) and Jessica Wilson (2).

Belgreen’s Allyson Bragwell tied for the game-high with 17 points. She was followed by Brooke Williams (6), Laken Bragwell (4), Jasmine Martin (4), Lexie Bragwell (3), Abby Hester (2) and Hanna Taylor (2).

Tharptown head coach Chad Green felt his team could have played better at times but was pleased with the outcome.

“I don’t think it was our best game tonight, but I liked our effort,” he said. “We got after it in the press. I think our defense was good.

“We missed some little shots under the goal and went 9-19 from the free-throw line which was not real good.

“For three and a half quarters, I think we played good defense but mid-way through the fourth quarter we allowed them to get into the paint a little bit and we don’t want to do that.

“I was proud of our girls’ effort and this win clinched the area berth so we can host the area tournament so I was thankful for that too.”