Belgreen boys stifle Phillips to capture Area 15 championship

By Staff
Scot Beard
THARPTOWN – Heading into the Class 1A, Area 15 Tournament few people gave the Belgreen varsity boys basketball team much of a chance to win it.
The Bulldogs had struggled through most of the season and amassed three wins before the tournament started. They were the fourth seed in the tournament with a 1-5 record in area play.
"That's the fun part about basketball – it's a tournament sport." Belgreen coach Greg Watson said. "I told the guys not to worry about wins and losses. I told them entering this tournament that our record was 0-0. Now we are 2-0."
The Bulldogs woke up in time for the area tournament and knocked off top-seeded Tharptown 50-47 in overtime to reach Monday night's final against Phillips.
The magic continued against the Bears and when the final buzzer sounded, the Bulldogs walked of the court as area champions thanks to a 45-28 victory.
With the win Belgreen will host the loser of Tuesday's R.A. Hubbard-Shoals Christian game Friday night during the sub-regional round of the playoffs.
The Bulldogs wasted little time in taking control of the game. Through a combination of good defense and poor shooting by Phillips, Belgreen led 15-0 by the end of the first quarter.
Phillips finally got on the scoreboard with 5:46 remaining in the second quarter and outscored Belgreen 8-6 during the quarter, but the damage had already been done.
"They're a lot better than what they played," Watson said of Phillips' effort.
Phillips' shooting got a little better in the second half, but as it did the Belgreen defense was able to adjust and prevent the Bears from rallying.
Brian Vance led the Bulldogs with 13 points while Ben Britnell added nine points.
Also scoring for Belgreen were Josh Quillen (6), Samuel Melecio (5), Josh DeVaney (5), Jake Tittle (5) and Daniel Melecio (2).
Belgreen 50,
Tharptown 47 OT
Trailing by five points entering the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs rallied to send the game to overtime before pulling away for a 50-47 win during the semifinals.
Tittle led Belgreen with 24 points. Also scoring for the Bulldogs were Hester (9), Britnell (6), Quillen (6), Samuel Melecio (3) and Daniel Melecio (2).
Jacob Parker scored 24 points to lead Tharptown. Wade Berryman and Manny Ricardo scored seven points each while Matt Austin added four points, Devin Lawson scored three points and Trevor Hallmark added two points.
Phillips 57,
Vina 47
Brent Townsend and Nicholas Miller scored 11 points each for Vina but it wasn't enough as the Red Devils season ended with a 57-47 loss to Phillips.
Phillips outscored Vina 17-9 in the second quarter to pull away
Patrick White added nine points while Adam Pharr scored eight. Ethan McInnis scored five points for the Red Devils.