Vina, PC win 8-and-under titles

By Staff
Kim West
THARPTOWN – The Tharptown boys beat Belgreen 16-7, while the Phil Campbell girls defeated Red Bay 17-13 in the 8-and-under championship games of the Franklin County Youth Basketball Organization Saturday.
In the boys game, neither team could score in the first quarter but Tharptown took a 6-2 halftime lead thanks to a free throws by Max Nolen and Heath Hatton and a score by Mike Rice, while Ben Inman scored the lone basket for Belgreen.
Tharptown added six more points in the third quarter to take a 12-7 lead on scores by Nolen, Hatton and Allen Gaston while Chase Landers hit a jump shot in the Lane and nailed a 3-pointer for Belgreen.
In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats tacked on four more points on baskets by Hatton and Nolen.
Landers finished with five points for Belgreen while Nolen and Hatton each had five points. for Tharptown and Rice added four.
In the girls game, Red Bay raced out to a 6-2 lead thanks to Allie Kennedy's six points, including a 3-pointer at the top of the key, while Taylor Pace, who had a game-high 14 points, scored the lone basket on a putback for Phil Campbell.
The Lady Bobcats came back to tie the game at 6-6 at halftime as Pace hit back-to-back running jumpers at the end fo the second quarter.
After a back-and-forth third quarter, Phil Campbell took an 11-8 advantage into the final period when Pace hit a layup at the buzzer.
In the fourth, Kennedy hit a line-drive open shot to cut the lead to 11-10 but Pace hit a putback and Elizabeth Benford made a pull-up jumper to put Phil Campbell ahead 15-10 with 1:33 left. Holly Hardin hit two free throws and Kennedy, who finished with a team-high 11 points, converted one but Pace hit another jumper to seal the win for the Lady Bobcats.