Defense drives Lady Tigers past Phil Campbell
By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
RED BAY - The Red Bay girls' defense is something of a paradox, using a philosophy based on a rigid set of rules to create utter chaos on the basketball floor.
Every pass is denied; every shot contested; every path to the basket closed off.
The Lady Tigers simply try to choke the life out of their beleaguered opponents.
"We can't simulate anything like that in practice," Phil Campbell coach Michael Beck said on Monday after his Lady Bobcats fell victim to the Lady Tigers and their relentless pressure defense in a 61-29 Red Bay win. "It's a little intimidating. I think our girls were a little overwhelmed."
They aren't the first, and they certainly won't be the last. And here's the scary part.
"We can play better defensively than we did tonight," Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts said. "We have certain rules to follow on defense, and there are still some things we're not doing right."
The Lady Tigers (5-3, 2-0 Class 2A, Area 16) did enough things right to hold Phil Campbell (6-5, 5-2) to just 10 made baskets on the night. Red Bay led 32-15 at the half behind 10 points from Alyssa Horton, and Mallory Garrison's steal and layup to close the third quarter extended the lead to 48-20.
"We try to keep pressure on the ball at all times and really get in the passing lanes," Roberts said. "We want to turn the ball out and always stay between our man and the basket. We don't do a whole lot of different stuff. We pretty much stick to our man-to-man."
Simple, yet suffocating. The Lady Bobcats were held scoreless for the opening four minutes of each of the first two quarters.
"We're better than what we played tonight," Beck said. "Their defense really gave us problems. Plus they've got all that tradition, and it was in their gym. But we'll remember the loss, I'll guarantee you."
Tanna Benford, Phil Campbell's leading scorer, finished with a team-high 12 points, but she struggled to find her rhythm in the face of such tenacious defense.
Roberts recognized the significance of holding a player of Benford's caliber in check.
"Phil Campbell's got a very solid team," he said. "We all know what Tanna can do. She's a great player. And [Erin] Gilbert and [Jodi] Taff are really athletic inside. They've got a good team."
Horton led a typically balanced Red Bay scoring attack with 14 points. Kalie Sparks added 10, and Mandy Lowery had eight. Garrison and Kendra Sparks each finished with six points, and Lauren Tucker and Betsy Jarnigan each added five.
"When you're [getting balanced scoring] like that, you know you're playing as a team," Roberts said. "That's the way it's supposed to be. It's not good when you have to count on one player to carry the bulk of the scoring load. You want everybody to be able to put the ball in the basket."
Red Bay jumped out to an 8-0 lead and stretched it to 18-6 after back-to-back threes by Horton midway through the first half.
Benford was the lone Lady Bobcat in double figures. Taff finished with six points, and Katie Jackson added five. Alis Hutcheson had four points, and Caitlyn Stancil added two.
In other recent local action:
Lauderdale County 60 Red Bay 51
Alyssa Horton had 16 points to lead Red Bay in Friday's road loss.
Chelsea McWilliams added 12 points, and Lauren Tucker had 10.
Jessica Patterson, Adrienne Thornton and Kiara Young each had 12 points to lead Lauderdale County, which avenged a previous two-point loss at Red Bay.
