Red Bay extends streak with dominant defense
By Staff
Mike Self, FCT Sports Editor
PHIL CAMPBELL – The time-honored sports adage that defense wins championships was validated once again Saturday night on the campus of Northwest-Shoals Community College.
How else to explain that despite missing 14 free throws, a handful of easy layups and all eight of their three-point attempts, Red Bay's girls still managed to win their ninth straight Franklin County Tournament title with a 53-41 win over Belgreen?
Add in the fact that the Lady Tigers (14-7) were out-rebounded 30-23, and it's plain to see that defense is what carried the day for Red Bay.
"We struggled from the free throw line tonight, and we missed a lot of shots inside that we normally make," Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts said. "We couldn't hit an outside shot either. But it says a lot about our girls that we were able to win in spite of all that."
The Lady Tigers hounded Belgreen all night with an exhausting combination of full-court pressure and half-court trapping, forcing 22 turnovers and holding the Lady Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting from the field.
Communication is the key for Red Bay when it comes to defense. Roberts spends a large portion of his time on the sidelines yelling phrases such as "Trap it!" and "Somebody get a tip!" The players, meanwhile, do more than their fair share of talking to one another.
"Communication is very important," said junior guard Jessica Johnston, who had three of Red Bay's 15 steals on Saturday. "If we don't communicate, we don't win."
Johnston said the main focus of all the on-court conversation is to make sure each opposing player is covered, but there's more to it than simply who's guarding whom.
"If one of us sees a chance for a trap, we'll call out for somebody to come help us," said junior center Chelsey McWilliams, who also had three steals to go along with her game-high 20 points. "Or if somebody sees one of the other team's players get behind the defense, they'll let us know to watch for the lob."
The end result of all this talking is that shots are always contested and passing lanes are always congested. Nothing comes easy, and it can make for a long night for opponents.
Give Belgreen credit for hanging around until the end on Saturday. Down by 12 late in the second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs closed the half on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 24-19.
"We had a little bit of a lead in the first half, and I kept waiting for us to build on it," Roberts said. "Then you look up and it's a five-point game at halftime. Belgreen deserves a lot of credit. They were well-prepared to play tonight. They made some big three-pointers, and they gave us some trouble with that 1-3-1 defense."
A three by Kellie Oliver midway through the third quarter brought Belgreen within two at 26-24, but that's when McWilliams took over. She scored 11 straight Red Bay points as the lead grew to 40-26 early in the fourth quarter.
Belgreen refused to give in. Still trailing by 14 with roughly two minutes left, Candice Allen and Deborah Billingham each buried three-pointers as part of an 8-0 run that made it 45-39 with 1:35 remaining.
Aimee Jackson made a free throw for Red Bay to stem the tide, and Kirstin Sharp came up with a key steal off the press and sank two more from the line to push the lead to 48-39 and seal championship number nine.
Roberts said afterward that this county title might be a little extra-satisfying, due to the fact that it comes in a year in which the Lady Tigers broke in four new starters and fielded their least-experienced team in quite some time.
"Yeah, it is a little more satisfying," he said. "I guess you could say we're a pretty young team. We've got one senior, five juniors and four sophomores.
"These last nine years have gone by fast, but it's definitely been a good nine."
Morgan Duncan finished with 10 points for Red Bay, and Brittany Scott added nine. Britan Bolding had seven.
Oliver led Belgreen with 12 points. Mary Billingham and Deborah Billingham each added nine.
