Red Bay boys sweep Tip-Off tourney titles

By Staff
Chase Elrod had 12 points and Nathan Hopkins added 10 on Saturday as Red Bay's A-Junior boys defeated Tharptown 37-31 in the championship game of the Tip-Off Tournament.
The Tigers trailed 31-29 after three quarters before out-scoring Tharptown 8-0 in the fourth.
"We switched to a man-to-man defense, and that seemed to be the difference," Red Bay coach Kevin Morrow said. "Tharptown turned the ball over on their first three or four trips in the fourth quarter, and after that they kind of went cold.
"It was a great atmosphere though. The place was really rocking, and fans on both sides were really into the game."
Curtis Morrell added eight points for Red Bay, and Cory Timbs had seven.
Manny Ricardo had 10 points to lead the Wildcats, who out-scored the Tigers 9-6 in the second quarter to take a 19-17 halftime lead.
Devin Lawson added nine points for Tharptown.
In other action from Saturday's finals:
B-Junior boys
Red Bay 40 East Franklin 30
Cody Reynolds had 20 points to lead the Tigers, who led by as much as 21 in the fourth quarter and then held off a late rally by the Rebels.
Ben Hubbard added eight points for Red Bay, which led 20-9 at the half and 33-16 going into the fourth quarter.
Jordan Benford led East Franklin with 19 points, and Trevor Hodge added seven.
Junior girls
Belgreen 36 Tharptown 14
Amber Smith had 10 points on Saturday as the Lady Bulldogs wrapped up the junior girls championship with a win over Tharptown.
Katelin Barber added nine points for Belgreen, which led 8-3 after one quarter and 16-8 at the half.
Loren McVicker finished with six points for the Lady Bulldogs.
Lori Metcalf led Tharptown with six points.