PC rallies against Vina, returns to finals

By Staff
Scot Beard
RED BAY – The Vina varsity boys basketball team has had a tough season, losing several games by 10 points or less.
The Red Devils added to that total Thursday after Phil Campbell rallied in the second half and held on to win 56-49 during the semifinals of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament.
The Bobcats are the defending champions and are looking forward to trying to repeat. The have struggled in recent games and need a spark as they head into the area tournament in a few weeks.
"I'm glad we are getting the opportunity to defend the title," Phil Campbell coach Darit Riddle said. "Maybe winning will put us back where we need to be."
Vina led for much of the first quarter and held a three-point lead at the end of the period. The Red Devils continued to pull away and led by as many as seven points in the second quarter before Phil Campbell cut the Vina advantage to 23-19 at halftime.
The Bobcats continued to chip away at the lead and a basket by Matt Waid midway through the third quarter gave Phil Campbell its first lead since early in the game.
Vina's Sammy Pardue tied the game with a free throw before teams traded the lead several times. A 3-pointer from Phil Campbell's Bailey Welborn gave the Bobcats a 40-35 lead heading into the final quarter.
Welborn opened the fourth quarter with another 3-pointer to put the Bobcats ahead by eight points.
The Red Devils played hard down the stretch, but were unable to get any closer than five points behind the Bobcats.
"Its easy to give up when stuff is not hitting early," Riddle said about his teams' struggles with shooting early. "But they didn't give up. Vina played hard."
Jordan Benford scored a game-high 14 points for Phil Campbell while Waid and Lawrence Butts scored nine points each.
Also scoring for Phil Campbell were Welborn (8), Ben Stancil (6), Austin Nix (5), Dillan Hamby (3) and Landon Hutcheson (2).
Brent Townsend was the leading scorer for Vina with 12 points while Morgan McCarley and Adam Pharr added 11 points each.
Also scoring for the Red Devils were Ethan McInnis (6), Patrick White (5), Keith Hester (3) and Pardue (1).
With the win the Bobcats advance to the finals where they will play the winner of the Red Bay-Tharptown game. That game was played Friday night, but concluded too late to be included in today's edition of The Franklin County Times.
The championship game is scheduled to begin at 7:45 p.m. tonight at Red Bay High School.
Vina 50,
Belgreen 42
Vina advanced to the semifinals of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament with a 50-42 victory against Belgreen Tuesday night.
It was the third time this season the Red Devils have defeated the Bulldogs.
Belgreen held a 23-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Red Devils took a 33-30 lead by halftime and never gave up the lead in the second half.
White led the Red Devils with 16 points while Townsend and McInnis scored nine points each. Also scoring for Vina were McCarley (8), Pharr (6) and Pardue (2).
Daniel Melecio scored 11 points to lead the Bulldogs while Brian Vance added 10 points. Also scoring for Belgreen were Colt Hester (6), Samuel Melecio (4), Will Hester (3), Ben Britnell (3), Austin Oldag (3) and Josh Quillen (2).