By Brannon King

For the FCT

It takes a lot of heart to win a big basketball game and Belgreen had plenty of it on Valentine’s Day.

The Bulldogs defeated the Covenant Christian Eagles by a score of 70-46 in the Class 1A boys’ sub-regional in front of a large crowd at Belgreen.

Dustin Smith, Chase Landers and Ben Inman all scored in double figures to help Belgreen advance to the Northwest Regional Tournament, which will be held at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville.

The Bulldogs and Eagles both got off to a fast-paced start with Belgreen holding a 19-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

The trio of Smith, Landers and Inman all hit three-pointers early on, giving Belgreen the lead. John David Lawler scored 10 of his 12 points in the opening period to keep the Eagles close at the start.

Belgreen then outscored Covenant 12-9 in the second quarter to take a 31-25 lead into the half.

It was the third quarter when the Bulldogs took total control of the game. Dustin Smith, playing with three fouls, scored 11 points in the third while Chase Landers added six points of his own to help Belgreen outscore the Eagles 27-7 in the quarter.

Belgreen took a 58-32 lead into the final quarter and then Covenant’s Tye Brown scored nine of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough for the Eagles.

The Bulldogs were led in scoring by Dustin Smith’s game-high 20 points. Chase Landers had 18 points for Belgreen in the win. He was followed by Ben Inman (12), Jared Mitchell (8), Josh DeVaney (6) and Will Barnwell (6).

Belgreen head coach Patrick Odom was pleased with his team’s big win.

“I’m proud of our guys. It’s always a sweet ride to Hanceville,” he said.

“I know this group of kids, even though I haven’t been with them the whole time, have worked really hard and had some tough nights when it comes to sub-state play but it was fun to see them put it all on the floor.

“Obviously, the third quarter was the difference in the game. I’m just proud of them for how they’ve consistently worked and fought for this step, and my challenge for them is we can’t be satisfied. We have to continue to work and try to win some more basketball games.”

Belgreen will play the Falkville Blue Devils on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Wallace State Community College in the Northwest Regional Tournament.

Because of press deadlines, coverage of that game will be posted directly to the FCT website at www.fct.wpengine.com.