Red Bay remains perfect in '07
By Staff
Mike Self, FCT Sports Editor
RED BAY – A lot of people make New Year's resolutions, typically to exercise more, eat healthier, or better themselves in some form or fashion.
Apparently, Red Bay's girls get together on December 31 of each year and resolve to not lose another basketball game for at least a month.
The Lady Tigers forced 24 turnovers while holding a commanding edge on the boards and at the foul line on Thursday, remaining unbeaten in January with a 60-32 win over Belgreen.
Red Bay (16-7 overall) improved to 6-0 since the calendar flipped to 2007. The Lady Tigers are a combined 15-0 in January over the past two seasons.
"That's something I really don't have any control over," said Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts, whose team out-rebounded Belgreen 27-17 and went 18-for-31 from the line compared to 0-for-3 by the Lady Bulldogs. "That's pretty much the way it's been ever since I've been at Red Bay. For whatever reason, our teams usually start off terrible in November and December. I think the turning point comes when we play in that tournament [the Northwest Alabama Invitational] at Lauderdale County every year.
"We get to play four games against tough competition, and this year we got two wins over quality teams [East Lawrence and Alabama Christian]. That really seemed to get us started, and we've been gradually improving ever since."
The Lady Tigers showed improvement in another key area on Thursday, finishing the night 6-for-13 from three-point range. Sophomore guard Morgan Duncan made five threes and scored a game-high 16 points.
"That's one thing we haven't been doing very well lately," Roberts said. "We're going to have to shoot the ball well from outside the rest of the way, because teams are going to focus on defending [junior center] Chelsey [McWilliams] first. We have three or four really good shooters on this team, and they're going to get some open shots. They just have to knock them down, and Morgan did that tonight."
After battling Belgreen down to the wire in last week's Franklin County Tournament finals, Red Bay wasted no time in taking control of Thursday's game.
Jessica Johnston scored six early points for the Lady Tigers, and Duncan's first three of the night made it 14-2 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
Another trey by Duncan stretched the lead to 19-4 early in the second quarter, and Red Bay led 27-12 at the half.
McWilliams opened the second half with a basket, and then Duncan really heated up. She drained three more treys in the first four minutes of the third quarter as the lead swelled to 41-19.
Belgreen closed the gap to 18 at 50-32 before Red Bay scored the game's final 10 points.
McWilliams finished with 13 points, and Johnston added 10. Kirstin Sharp scored seven points and also had four of Red Bay's 18 steals.
Deborah Billingham led Belgreen with nine points. Amy Smith added six, Mary Billingham had five, and Monica Smith finished with four.
Red Bay was scheduled to play its final Class 2A, Area 16 game of the regular season on Saturday against Cherokee. A win by the Lady Tigers would tie them for first place in the area standings with Mars Hill at 5-1, and a coin flip on Monday would then decide who gets to host the area tournament next month.
"I think I've lost the last four or five coin flips I've done," Roberts said. "I wish there was another way they could do that. Home court advantage means a lot, but you have to be good enough to win no matter where you play."
Right now, when the Lady Tigers play seems far more important than where. As long as the calendar says January, they have to like their chances.
