By Bart Moss / For the FCT

Tanner Hamilton got two shots at hitting a basket to win the B-Varsity Franklin County championship. His first shot bounced off the rim. Hamilton never gave up on the ball, however, getting his own rebound and putting the ball back in the basket the second time to lift the Red Bay Tigers to a 41-39 win over the Belgreen Bulldogs.

“Every time we’ve played those guys, it has been a battle,” said Red Bay coach John Torisky. “They have a good basketball team. Our guys fought hard and fought to the end. I was really proud of the way they laid it on the line tonight.”

The game was tied 8-8 at the end of the first quarter, but Belgreen was able to take a 23-22 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Bulldogs maintained their one-point lead at the end of the third quarter, 32-31. Belgreen seemed to maintain that one-point lead until Hamilton’s late shot.

Red Bay led 36-35 midway through the fourth quarter. Red Bay was able take significant chunks of time off the clock while Belgreen, with only three team fouls, had to foul to have a chance to get the ball back. When they finally were able to put the Tigers on the line, Red Bay hit their free throws to extend the lead to 38-35.

Belgreen’s Isac Willingham went to work inside, hitting a layup and two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 39-38 lead in the waning seconds of the game before Hamilton hit the game-winning shot with 16 seconds left on the clock.

Hamilton led Red Bay with 13 points, including six points at the free throw line in the second half. Dawson Wright followed with 12 points, hitting two big three-pointers in the second half. Alex Kennedy added six points, Hunter Burks five points, Lane Shewbart three points and Cam McKinney two points.

Scout Bragwell led Belgreen with 21 points, going 11-for-14 from the free throw line. Alex Betts added six points, David Plott five points, Willingham four points and Koby Collins three points.

Semifinals: Red Bay 43, Phil Campbell 22

Red Bay had no trouble advancing to the finals of the B-Varsity boys finals of the Franklin County Tournament, beating Phil Campbell 43-22.

Red Bay led Phil Campbell 13-3 at the end of the first quarter and 28-7 at halftime. The Tigers extended their lead to 37-13 at the end of the third quarter in route to the win.

Shewbart led Red Bay with 10 points. McKinney and Kennedy added nine points each. Hunter King finished with six points, Wright four points, Gage Bays three points and Hamilton two points.

Matt Chaffin led Phil Campbell with seven points. Brett Saint and Jason Mansell finished with five points each. Francisco Jimenez had four points and Easton Cummings one point.

Semifinals: Belgreen 56, Tharptown 33

Belgreen easily advanced to the finals of the B-Varsity boys finals of the Franklin County Tournament with a 56-33 win over Tharptown.

Belgreen led 18-5 at the end of the first quarter and 36-11 at halftime. Tharptown outscored Belgreen 15-8 in the third quarter to make a slight cut in Belgreen’s lead but powered their way home in the fourth quarter.

Bragwell and Willingham led Belgreen with 23 points and 19 points respectively. Tanner Warhurst added eight points, Collins five points and Plott one point.

Britton Kennamore led Tharptown with 13 points. Les Montgomery and Yovani Gomez finished with five points each. Chase O’Connor and Reuben Alfaro had four points each. Tristian Brasuell ended the game with two points.