Bobcats on the road to recovery
By Staff
Mike Self, FCT Sports Editor
The Phil Campbell Bobcats have learned the hard way that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you start coming back up.
Rock bottom for the Bobcats came two weeks ago at the Franklin County Tournament, when a stunning 55-54 loss to Belgreen abruptly ended their hopes of repeating as county champs.
"Truthfully, we had been playing bad for two or three games heading into the county tournament," said Phil Campbell coach Gary Odom, whose team had beaten Belgreen by more than 20 points in late November. "I think what that game did for us was make our guys realize that if we wanted to have any kind of a decent season, we were going to have to start playing a lot better. After the county tournament, our guys searched inside themselves a little bit and discovered they could do more."
The Bobcats, perhaps still recovering from the loss to Belgreen, dropped their first game after the county tournament to Colbert Heights. Then the healing began.
Phil Campbell turned its season around last Thursday with a 42-37 win over rival Haleyville, the champions of Class 4A, Area 9.
"That was a huge win for us," Odom said. "That was probably our best defensive game of the year. We didn't shoot the ball very well, and they had a lot to do with that. But they didn't shoot it well either, and we had a lot to do with that. We just really played hard on defense. We were feeling good after that one."
The following night, Phil Campbell dealt with some lingering frustration from the county tournament by shooting the lights out in a 75-45 win over Belgreen. The Bobcats made their first nine shots of the game and finished 13-for-21 from three-point range.
"We shot the ball extremely well that night," Odom said. "It kind of makes you wonder. We played great defense against Haleyville and then we shot the ball so well against Belgreen, and you can't help but wonder why we can't do those things more often."
After falling just two points shy of the Class 2A Final Four last season, the Bobcats (12-13) have struggled with consistency this year while breaking in four new starters. They've gone through their ups and downs, but they certainly seem to be heading in the right direction going into tonight's regular season finale at Hamilton.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride this year," Odom said. "We'll play well for two or three games, and then we'll have two or three bad games in a row. Hopefully we're on the way up right now. The key for us is defense. When we play good defense, things go well for us. When we don't play good defense, we get blown out. The offense will come if the commitment to defense is there."
The Bobcats lost 72-63 at Shoals Christian on Monday, but senior guard Jay Steward missed the game with a pulled back muscle. Odom said Steward should be back for tonight's game at Hamilton.
"The last game of the regular season is very important," Odom said. "We've played well the past two or three games, and we want to continue to build on that. But if we come out flat tonight, we might start heading back in the wrong direction."
Phil Campbell will face Cherokee one week from tonight in the first round of the Class 2A, Area 16 tournament. The Bobcats lost their first meeting with Cherokee by 20 points before bouncing back to beat the Indians by two just 10 days later.
"I hope this one is more like the second game and not the first," Odom joked.
