By Bart Moss. Belgreen’s Allyson Bragwell and Tharptown’s Kamri Sears fight for control of the ball in Saturday’s area championship game.

By Bart Moss

For the FCT

The Tharptown Wildcats used a dominant second half to win their third straight area championship Saturday. The victory also marked the 30^th straight area win for Tharptown as well.

Tharptown led the Bulldogs by three at the half, 31-28. Tharptown outscored Belgreen 34-5 in the second half in route to the 65-33 win.

“We have been very blessed,” Tharptown coach Chad Green said.

“I am really proud of our girls. Belgreen played great in the first half and had us on the ropes. Our second half defense and pressure was much better.”

Belgreen jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Tharptown finally scored and came back to tie the game with 4:48 to go in the first quarter. The Wildcats took the lead shortly thereafter and never would relinquish it.

Tharptown led 15-12 at the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs were aggressive getting the ball inside, drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line in the second quarter.

As a result, Tharptown had their two senior leaders, Danielle Creasy and Kamri Sears, in foul trouble, both with three fouls, on the bench.  Junior post player Kathy Alfaro also picked up three fouls.

Allyson Bragwell led the Bulldogs at the half with 11 points. The Bulldogs shot 18 free throws and made ten in the first half.

Kaitlyn Vandiver led the Wildcats at the half with nine points.

Tharptown stormed out the locker room in the second half. With their leading scorer, Sears, on the bench with three fouls, the Wildcats stepped up the defensive pressure.

Tharptown went on a 15-0 run. Belgreen wasn’t able stop the streak until they sank a free throw at the 3:15 mark in the third quarter. It would be their only point of the quarter as the Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 20-1.

Katilyn Vandiver led Tharptown with 19 points. Danielle Creasy and Kamri Sears scored 10 points each. Others scoring for the Wildcats were Haley Malone (7), Kathy Alfaro (7), Jessica Swinney (7), Savannah Hamilton (3), and Brooke Daniel (2).

Allyson Bragwell led Belgreen with 13 points. Other scoring for the Bulldogs were Lexie Bragwell (7), Laken Bragwell (6), Jasmine Martin (5), and Abby Hester (2).

Tharptown will host R.A. Hubbard in the sub-region. Belgreen will travel to Covenant Christian in sub-region play. Both games will be Thursday at 7 p.m.

Semi-Finals

Belgreen 81, Phillips 56

The Belgreen Bulldogs used a dominant second half to rush past the Phillips Bears to get to the area finals. Belgreen trailed Phillips 29-28 at the end of the first half thanks to a 25 point second quarter by the Bears.

Belgreen outscored Phillips 26-14 in the third quarter and 27-13 in the fourth quarter in route to a convincing semi-final win.

Allyson Bragwell led the Bulldogs with 27 points. She was followed by Jasmine Martin who scored 21 points. Abby Hester added 14 points. Others scoring for Belgreen were Lexie Bragwell (9), Hanna Taylor (4), and Nicole Borden (4).

Tharptown 49, Hackleburg 29

The Tharptown Wildcats put away the Hackleburg Panthers early with a 22-3 first quarter outburst. The Wildcats were able to coast to the win holding the Panthers to single digits in three of the four quarters.

Kamri Sears led Tharptown with 21 points. Savannah Hamilton added 12 points. Others scoring for the Wildcats were Kaitlyn Vandiver (9), Jessica Wilson (9), Haley Malone (8), Brooke Daniel (6), and Danielle Creasy (4).