by Bart Moss for the FCT

The Red Bay Tigers had to come from behind to win the 7th-8th grade boys Franklin County championship. The Tigers defeated the Tharptown Wildcats 44-36.

Tharptown jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first quarter.  The Wildcats extended their lead to 26-17 by halftime. Red Bay came out of the locker room to dominate the second half of the game.  The Tigers outscored Tharptown 14-4 in the third quarter to take a 31-30 lead into the final period of play.  Red Bay outscored Tharptown 13-6 in the fourth quarter to take the win and the championship.

“I told the guys at halftime they just needed to relax and play the game one possession at a time,” said Red Bay coach Kevin Morrow.  “We were down nine and we still had another half of basketball left.  We changed to a half court trap on defense and were able to get turnovers out of it.

“It was a tremendous effort by both teams,” said Morrow.  “Coach Lacey had his team ready to play and they played well.”

Peyton Green led Red Bay with 16 points.  Colton Corum added 11 points.  Others scoring for the Tigers were Gath Weatherford (9), Tanner Nichols (6), and Elijah Ingle (1).

Colton Malone and Les Montgomery led Tharptown with nine points each.  Others scoring for the Wildcats were Carson Petree (6), Luis Macias (5), Christopher Amos (4), and Tristian Brasuell (3).

“We wanted the win and played well enough at times do get the win,” said Tharptown coach Kevin Lacey.  “We had a good lead at halftime and just didn’t play defense well enough in the second half to hang on.  I really proud of the way these guys have practiced and played this season.”

7th-8th Grade Boys Semi-Final Game

The Red Bay Tigers defeated the Belgreen Bulldogs 55-26.

Peyton Green led Red Bay with 17 points.  Tanner Nichols added 12 points.

Taylor Welch led Belgreen with 22 points.