Lady Bobcats defeat Lady Bulldogs at home

J.R. Tidwell/FCT Phil Campbell’s Madison Hardy (10) dribbles towards the lane with Lauren Oliver (42) of Belgreen in pursuit.

The Phil Campbell Lady Bobcats picked up a close 50-46 win over the Belgreen Lady Bulldogs at home Saturday night.

The game was never out of reach for the Lady Bulldogs, but Phil Campbell managed to stay on top for most of the game.

“They played their hearts out,” Belgreen head coach Ritchie Hester said. “I don’t know what it is about this gym, but we always seem to shoot terrible here.”

Phil Campbell had a decent lead at 32-20 in the middle of the third. Belgreen closed the gap a little by the end of the third, which saw the Lady Bobcats take a 37-29 lead into the fourth.

Phil Campbell had a 10-point lead with four minutes remaining in the game, but a 3-pointer by Bridget Thompson sparked a comeback by Belgreen late in the game.

Another deep shot fro Belgreen, this one by Mollie Hester, saw Phil Campbell’s lead dwindle to 48-46 with two minutes remaining.

Free throws by Whitley Yocom and Autumn Thomas put the Lady Bobcats up 50-46. Belgreen was unable to score again after the 3 by Hester, giving Phil Campbell the win.

“We didn’t play well for a two-minute span there in the fourth,” Phil Campbell head coach Darit Riddle said. “Other than that we played pretty good.”

Ciara Harville led the Lady Bobcats in points with 14, with Thomas adding 12 and Tori Pace scoring 11. Also scoring for Phil Campbell were Madison Hardy (8), Yocom (5) and Hope Cook (2).

Lauren Oliver topped Belgreen in scoring with 11 points, with Thompson and Erica Smith contributing 10 apiece. Also scoring for the Lady Bulldogs were Laken Bragwell (9), Hester (3) and Hannah Taylor (1).

“Our girls showed me some things that I’ve been waiting to see, and I hope we’ll still see them at the area tournament,” Hester said.