Belgreen’s Brant Bragwell battles Tharptown’s Braden Key.

By Bart Moss for the FCT

The Belgreen Bulldogs had no problem claiming the 1A, Area 13 boys championship Saturday night, easily defeating the Tharptown Wildcats 83-48. Both teams will play in the subregion Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Belgreen will host Waterloo. Tharptown will travel to R.A. Hubbard in Courtland.

An explosive second quarter gave Belgreen all the space they would need to defeat a shorthanded Tharptown team. The Wildcats were without their leading scorer, Mikey Rosson, who had to miss for a family emergency. The Wildcats also lost their second leading scorer, Levi McCormack, in the second quarter with a knee injury.

“I was very proud of how our team played tonight,” said Belgreen Coach Clint Isbell. “They were focused like a laser beam. You could see it in their eyes before the game in the locker room.

“It reminded me of the finals of the Franklin County tournament. They played relentless on defense and ran the floor like we want to do on offense. They have worked hard all year, and they deserve this.”

Belgreen jumped out to a 15-2 lead with 3:02 to go in the first quarter after quick back-to-back baskets by Brant Bragwell. Bragwell nailed a three pointer, and the Bulldogs got a layup off a Tharptown turnover. The Bulldogs led the Wildcats 17-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Tharptown’s Cole Daniel hit a three pointer to start the second quarter to pull the Wildcats to within three points, 17-11. That was a close as Tharptown would get in the game. It was all Belgreen to the end. The Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 27-9 from that point and led 44-20 at halftime. Belgreen opened the second half with a 10-1 run to make the score 54-27. By the end of the third quarter, the Bulldogs led by 30 points, 64-34.

Brant Bragwell led Belgreen with 26 points. He was followed by Jacob Mayberry with 16 points and Mason Bragwell with 14 points. Adam Green and Jospeh Welch had seven points each. Payton Scott added four points, and Patrick Sykes had three points. Seth Taylor, Shane Devaney and Ashlee Britton contributed two points each.

Cole Daniel led Tharptown with 14 points. Carson Petree added nine points; Matt Hall and Alex Argueta scored seven points each. Braden Key had six points, Misael Saldana finished with three points, and Dakota Nolen scored two points.

2A, Area 14 Finals: Sulligent 64, Phil Campbell 59 (Double Overtime)

The Phil Campbell Bobcats (17-12) lost a heartbreaker in the 2A, Area 14 championship game, falling to top-seed Sulligent 64-59 in double overtime. The Bobcats held a seven point lead going into the fourth quarter, but Sulligent went on a big run to force the game into overtime. The Blue Devils eventually outlasted the Bobcats in the second overtime to get the win.

Phil Campbell will have to travel to Sheffield for the subregion Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Phil Campbell and Sulligent were deadlocked at the end of the first quarter 12-12. The Blue Devils outscored the Bobcats 14-9 in the second quarter to take a 26-21 halftime lead. The Bobcats came out of the locker room hot, outpacing Sulligent 19-7 to take a 40-33 lead going into the final period of play. Sulligent roared back in the fourth quarter, outscoring Phil Campbell 17-10 to make the score 50-50 and force the game into overtime. Neither team was able to do much scoring in the first overtime, scoring four points each to make the score 54-54 and sending the game into double overtime. Sulligent outscored the Bobcats 10-4 to get the win and the championship.

Peyton Thomas led Phil Campbell with 21 points. Hayden Copeland added 16 points, and Thomas Baker followed with 12 points. Joe Hardy had six points and Gage Roberson three points.

1A, Area 13 Semifinals: Tharptown 79, Hackleburg 65

The Tharptown Wildcats pulled off a minor upset Thursday night to advance to the finals of the 1A, Area 13 championship game to play county rival Belgreen. The Wildcats’ full court pressure defense and two key three pointers helped the team defeat Hackleburg 79-65. Tharptown had lost to the Panthers twice in the regular season.

Tharptown held a slight advantage at the end of the first quarter, 15-13, and got hot in the second quarter, outscoring Hackleburg 24-10, including a 15-0 run to close out the half, to take a 39-23 lead into the locker room. The Panthers went on a run of their own in the third quarter, outscoring Tharptown 23-16 to give Tharptown a 55-46 lead going into the final quarter of play. Hackleburg cut Tharptown’s lead to eight points, 63-55, with 5:04 to go in the game before senior Braden Key nailed back-to-back three pointers to stop the Panthers’ run and give the Wildcats a 69-55 lead. The Panthers would get Tharptown’s lead back down to seven, 71-64, with 2:29 to go in the game, but that was as close as they would get.

Mikey Rosson led Tharptown with 26 points. Key added 13 points. Levi McCormack and Cole Daniel had 11 points and ten points respectively. Matt Hall added eight points, Carson Petree had five points, Misael Saldana four points and Alex Argueta two points.

1A, Area 13 Semifinals: Belgreen 89, Phillips 51

The top-seed in 1A, Area 13 had no problem advancing to the finals Thursday night. The Belgreen Bulldogs easily dispatched the Phillips Bears 89-51. The Bulldogs scored 20-plus points in each of the first three quarters and cruised to a win.

Mason Bragwell led Belgreen with 25 points. Brant Bragwell and Joseph Welch added 11 points each. Jacob Mayberry and Adam Green pitched in ten points each. Shane Devaney finished with six points. Logan Seay, Payton Scott and Seth Taylor had four points each. Grayson Moore and Caleb Pinkard had two points each.

2A, Area 14 Semifinals: Phil Campbell 73, Lamar County 64

The Phil Campbell Bobcats rode two huge performances by Hayden Copeland and Peyton Thomas to advance to the finals of the 2A, Area 14 boys basketball tournament at Sulligent. The two combined for 52 of the Bobcats’ 73 points in 73-64 win over the Lamar County Bulldogs. Phil Campbell advanced to play Sulligent in the finals.

Copeland and Thomas led Phil Campbell with 27 points and 25 points respectively. Thomas went 14-of-17 from the free throw line. Thomas Baker and Gage Roberson added eight points each. Joe Hardy and Daniel Uptain had two points each. Nate Owens contributed one point.

2A, Area 14 Semifinals: Sulligent 67, Red Bay 35

The top-seeded Sulligent Blue Devils had too much firepower for the Red Bay Tigers to have a chance for a semifinal upset. The Blue Devils outscored the Tigers in all four quarters to eliminate Red Bay 67-34 and advance to the finals to face Phil Campbell.

Aeron Moor had eight points for Red Bay. Colton Corum finished with seven points, Peyton Green six points, Levi McNatt five points, Ethan Pierce four points, Dylan Pearson three points and Noah Brewer two points.

1A, Area 13 Quarterfinals: Philllips 70, Vina 64

The Phillips Bears had a steady performance, aided by a 35-point night by Brandon Green, to eliminated the Vina Red Devils from the 1A, Area 13 boys basketball tournament. Both teams hit nine three-point shots in the game.

The Vina Red Devils scored 52 of their 64 points in the first and fourth quarter – 26 in each – but couldn’t generate enough points in between to get the win.

Clay Allison led Vina with 31 points, including 17 points in the fourth quarter. Blake Hardin added nine points, Austin Harper had eight points, Tyler Renfrow seven points, Andrew Upton six points and James Barnes three points.