East Lawrence holds off Red Bay

J.R. Tidwell/FCT Red Bay head coach Greg Cash talks to his team during a timeout Thursday night.

The Red Bay boy’s varsity team fell to the East Lawrence Eagles 72-57 in the Hatton Christmas Tournament on Thursday night.

The game was close early on because neither team could get shots to drop.

The Eagles were ahead only 6-5 halfway through the first quarter, but they went on a 10-3 run through the end of the first quarter into the first four minutes of the second to take a 16-8 lead.

East Lawrence benefited from several Red Bay turnovers, scoring several points in the second quarter on fast breaks.

“We missed four lay-ups and a free throw in the first, and that’s huge for us,” Red Bay head coach Greg Cash said. “We were executing but not finishing.”

The Tigers went on several small runs throughout the second half. Coach Cash high-fived each of his players that left the court during these runs to preserve momentum and keep his team fighting.

“We made runs, but the gap stayed the same,” Cash said.

Red Bay narrowed the Eagles’ 30-17 halftime lead to 46-37 by the end of the third quarter.

Both teams began playing faster to the hoop, but East Lawrence benefited most by converting turnovers into fast break points.

“We don’t need to play fast,” Cash said.

The Eagles rode miscues by the Tigers to the 15-point victory.

Orlando Davis, a key player for the Eagles, had 38 points in the contest — over half of his team’s score.

Michael Ramirez led the Tigers in scoring with 14, with Hunter Childers totaling 9 and Austin Malone scoring 8. Also scoring for Red Bay were Ben Hubbard (7), Brett McDowell (7), Austin Sparks (4), Cole Rooker (4), Austin Humphres (3) and Austin Thorn (2).