In a wide open field, the outcome may well be determined by which team succeeds at…Setting the pace

By Staff
Mike Self, FCT Sports Editor
Whereas Red Bay has dominated the varsity girls bracket of the Franklin County Tournament for the past eight years, the boys side has been far more evenly contested.
When Phil Campbell won the championship last season, the Bobcats became the third team (along with Red Bay and Belgreen) to win at least two tournament titles in the past seven years.
After going 7-0 last season against their county foes, the Bobcats have come back to the pack a little this season while breaking in four new starters. Meanwhile, Red Bay, Belgreen and Vina have all shown improvement, making the outcome of this year's tournament far less certain.
With the field more evenly matched, the winner will likely be the team who is most successfully able to impose its style of play on its opponent. The Bobcats prefer to put the pedal to the metal and find open three-point looks in transition for their many dangerous outside shooters. The three teams trying to unseat Phil Campbell as county champ are more inclined to slow the pace and pound the ball inside to their post players.
How this battle of wills is resolved will go a long way toward determining who takes home the championship trophy.
"Tempo is really big for us, because we're not a very good half court team," Phil Campbell coach Gary Odom said. "If we're not able to get out and run and get a few easy baskets in transition, then we could be in trouble."
The Bobcats will look to fast break at every opportunity, whether it be off a turnover, a rebound or even a made basket. The more shots they attempt, the happier Odom will be.
Red Bay coach Greg Cash, on the other hand, preaches to his players that patience is a virtue.
"That's been one of our biggest issues this season," Cash said. "The kids will make two or three passes and then think it's time to go score. It's hard to get them to believe that if we make seven or eight passes, eventually somebody on defense will make a mistake and we'll get a better shot. We want to make the other team guard us for as long as possible."
Cash said the Tigers must score more if they hope to win their third county title in the past four seasons, but he stressed that the solution is not taking more shots but rather taking quality shots.
"It's fun to run up and down the floor and take a bunch of shots, but if you're not making them then you're just giving the other team more opportunities to score," he said. "Tempo is big for us. I want us to get the ball in the half court and turn the offense over as many times as it takes for us to get the shot we're looking for, which is usually something close to the basket. Our post guys should touch the ball every time down the floor, whether they score or not."
Red Bay's two games with Phil Campbell thus far provide a perfect example of how important tempo can be. In mid-December, the Tigers visited Phil Campbell and pulled off a 44-42 upset, turning the game into a half-court slugest and clamping down on the Bobcats' perimeter shooters.
Last week, the Bobcats exacted their revenge at Red Bay, pushing the pace and making 11 three-pointers in a 64-53 win over the Tigers.
Red Bay's semifinal game with Vina on Friday should be interesting, because both teams will be looking to play the same style.
The Red Devils normally don't mind getting out in the open court, but they will be shorthanded this week after head coach Sonny Tibbs elected to play freshman guards Morgan McCarley and Brent Townsend on the junior varsity team for the county tournament.
"We want to slow it down, because of our lack of depth and because we're not going to have the outside shooting we normally have," Tibbs said. "We'll try to pound it inside to our big guys. The number one thing for us will be staying out of foul trouble. We played Morgan and Brent down on the junior team, so we're only going to have six players. B.J. [Beard] and Blake [Thorn] will be our guards, and there will be a lot of pressure on them because Red Bay plays a tough man-to-man defense.
"The slower the pace, the better off we'll be."
Belgreen coach Wes Hester was away at a workshop on Tuesday and could not be reached for comment, but his Bulldogs know all too well how dangerous Phil Campbell can be when the Bobcats are allowed to run and gun.
When the two teams met back in November, Belgreen controlled the tempo in the early going and trailed just 21-17 at halftime. The Bobcats got hot in the second half and turned a close game into a runaway win.
If the Bulldogs hope to pull the upset in Thursday night's semifinal meeting, they must put the brakes on Phil Campbell's up-tempo style.