Belgreen, Red Bay win while Tharptown, PC fall
Red Bay’s Hannah Sharp (34) completes a pass around a Colbert County defender during the Lady Tigers’ 50-32 victory Monday at the Northwest Alabama Girls Christmas Tournament. | Scot Beard/FCT
ROGERSVILLE — Franklin County teams experienced mixed results during Monday’s opening round of the Northwest Alabama Girls Christmas Tournament.
Belgreen and Red Bay earned victories and second-round games in the winners’ bracket against ranked opponents. Phil Campbell and Tharptown lost to strong teams and earned a second-round game against each other in the losers’ bracket.
Belgreen 49, Rogers 37
The Lady Bulldogs got all they wanted and then some from a scrappy Rogers team, but in the end Belgreen was able to secure the victory.
Belgreen held an early 11-3 lead before Rogers rallied to tie the game 13-13 in the second quarter. The Lady Bulldogs could not pull away and lead by two points at halftime.
“They were very aggressive and physical,” Belgreen coach Shauna Humphries said.
Belgreen pushed its advantage to seven points by the end of the third quarter and closed the game on a 10-0 run.
Erica Smith led the Lady Bulldogs with 15 points — all coming from 3-point shots.
“She has a great shot and can light it up,” Humphries said. “It was just one of those nights for her.”
Katelin Barber scored 13 points for Belgreen while Kristi O’Dell and Alivia Holcomb added five points each. Also scoring for the Lady Bulldogs were Bridget Thompson (4), Sara McMahan (4) and Lydia DeVaney (3).
Humphries said her team did not play as well as they could and would have to get back to playing sound fundamental basketball to be successful in the tournament.
“Coming off the break, I couldn’t expect a perfect game,” Humphries said.
With the win the Lady Bulldogs advanced to the winners’ bracket to play Lauderdale County Tuesday. That game concluded too late to be included in today’s edition of The Franklin County Times.
Red Bay 50, Colbert County 32
The Lady Tigers dominated the first quarter, but the Lady Indians rallied to cut the deficit to 16-13 before Red Bay pulled away for good.
The Lady Tigers capitalized on several Colbert County turnovers in the final minute of the first half to build a 25-15 lead at halftime.
“We played sluggish,” said Red Bay coach Donnie Roberts. “We got a good lead then missed some layups.”
The Lady Tigers came out strong in the second half and extended their lead to 14 points by the start of the final quarter.
Hannah Sharp led Red Bay with 10 points while Whitney Sharp and Casey Sparks scored nine points each.
Also scoring for The Lady Tigers were Jade Ezzell (6), Morgan McKinney (4), Lexy Lindsey (3), Leah Fuller (2), Mariah Horton (2), Morgan Mason (2), Lauren Pacetti (2) and MaRanda Bugett (1).
Although the Lady Tigers did look sluggish at times there was one area of their game where they did show improvement — foul trouble.
Red Bay’s starters have gotten into early foul trouble in many games this season. Monday night, however, none of the Lady Tigers’ starters were in danger of fouling out.
“We’re doing better on that,” Roberts said.
With the win Red Bay improves to 9-2 overall. The Lady Tigers played Hatton Tuesday, but that game concluded too late to be included in today’s edition of The Franklin County Times.
Cold Springs 61, Phil Campbell 37
The Lady Bobcats held with Cold Springs through the first quarter, but the Lady Eagles pulled away in the second quarter to secure the victory.
Phil Campbell trailed by seven points at the end of the first quarter before falling behind by 16 points at the half.
Ciara Harville led the Lady Bobcats with 14 points while Taylor Scott scored seven points.
Also scoring for Phil Campbell were Whitley Yocum (6), Amber Channey (6) and Autumn Thomas (4).
Lexington 84, Tharptown 33
Lexington outscored the Lady Wildcats 26-7 in the opening quarter to build a lead it would not surrender.
Kendra Baker led the Lady Wildcats with 14 points while Kamri Sears scored seven points.
Also scoring for Tharptown were Erika Sparks (5), Chloe Lane (4),
Braeden Sellers (2) and Erica Valdez (1).
With the loss, the Lady Wildcats fell to 9-7 overall.
They played Phil Campbell in the second round of the tournament, but that game concluded too late to be included in today’s edition of The Franklin County Times.
