Rally falls short for Red Bay, Lady Tigers pull away for win

SHEFFIELD — At halftime of Red Bay’s game at Sheffield Monday night the Tigers appeared to be on their way to an embarrassing loss. They rallied to tie before falling 52-48.

Trailing by three points at the start of the second quarter Red Bay was unable to stop the Bulldogs, allowing Sheffield to build a 38-21 lead at halftime.

Then the rally began.

Steven Nabers hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third quarter to spark Red Bay.

The Tigers scored 14 points in the quarter while limiting Sheffield to four points to cut the deficit to seven points entering the final quarter.

Red Bay continued to play strong defense and got its shots to fall to continue to chip away at the Bulldog lead.

In the closing minutes Red Bay tied the game 48-48, but Sheffield scored and added a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.

“We shot 8-for-32 in the first half,” Red Bay coach Greg Cash said. “We struggled getting the ball up in the post.”

While Red Bay struggled in close, the outside shots were falling. The Tigers hit 10 3-pointers in the game.

Brett McDowell, who hit three of the Tigers 3-pointers, led Red Bay with 15 points while Cody Reynolds scored 13 points.

Also scoring for the Tigers were Nabers (8), Blake Brummett (5), Austin Malone (5) and Cory Timbs (2).

Red Bay 58,

Sheffield 45

The Lady Tigers had three players reach double-digit scoring as Red Bay erased a 3-point halftime deficit to pull away for a victory against Sheffield.

After scoring 22 points in the first quarter, the Lady Tigers were limited to five points in the second quarter.

Red Bay took control in the third quarter, outscoring Sheffield 16-6 — including a 7-0 run to end the quarter — to regain the lead for good.

Hannah Sharp led Red Bay with 12 points while Morgan McKinney scored 11 points and Whitney Sharp scored 10 points.

Also scoring for the Lady Tigers were Leah Fuller (7), Lexy Lindsey (6), Lauren Pacetti (6), Alaina Hester (4) and Jade Ezzell (2).