by Keith Ledbetter for the FCT

With the 2015 post season starting this week, Red Bay’s varsity

boys ended the regular season on a positive note Friday night with

a 67-63 squeaker win over the Belgreen Bulldogs.

Red Bay boys coach Matt Noah has had to turn to replacements

to fill a void due to injuries to three starters who are out for the season.

“We’ve talked about the importance of this last regular season

game leading up to the area tournament,” said Noah following the

win.

“The guys that have stepped up for injured players have really

started coming together.

“Belgreen’s record doesn’t reflect how good they are. They’re

no slouch. They beat us by 38 points at our place, so to come here

and get a win on their home court is huge, and it’s going to be a

confidence boost for us,” added Noah.

Red Bay will face Phil Campbell for the fourth time on Tuesday

in the 2AAHSAAArea 15 tournament at Sulligent.

The winner of that game will play Sulligent for the championship

on Friday.

Belgreen will play Vina Tueday in the 1AArea 15 Tournament

that’s hosted by Phillips.

The winner will play Phillips on Thursday, and will face the winner

of the Hackleburg and Covenant Christian for the championship

on Saturday.

Red Bay jumped out early over Belgreen and led 9-2 in the first

minutes, but Belgreen cut it to one point, 10-9 on foul shots by Benjamin

Inman.

A three pointer from Red Bay’s Jesus Kelley, and a two point

basket from Dylan Gresham extended the Tigers’ lead to 17-9 near

the two minute mark of the first.

Red Bay’s Nick Thorn connected on a three from the left side,

but the Bulldogs’ Dakota Davis cut Red Bay’s advantage to 20-13

with a basket at the buzzer.

Red Bay led by seven points at the end of the first, second, and

third quarters. The Bulldogs came within one point of tying the

game in the first, second and fourth quarters and had a 37-37 tie in

the third, but could never take the lead.

Dylan Gresham led Red Bay with 17 points. Nick Thorn scored

13, Dakota Hester scored 10, Tate Ozbirn had nine, Jesus Kelley

scored six, Austin Milam scored four, Chandler Allen had three,

Daniel Wooten scored two.

Belgreen’s Dakota Davis scored 14, Benjamin Inman had 13,

Shawn Jones scored 11, Payton Scott added seven, Abram Thorn

had six, Shane Devaney scored five, Cade Parrish scored three,

Joseph Welch and Franky Wallace scored two each.