Bobcats, Lady Tigers win rivalry game
J.R. Tidwell/FCT Phil Campbell’s Skeeter Benford (10) attempts to make a pass around Michael Ramirez (1) of Red Bay Friday night.
RED BAY — Phil Campbell and county/area rival Red Bay split the wins in Friday night’s highly anticipated match up.
The Lady Tigers won the varsity opener 60-40, and the Bobcats won the nightcap 60-48.
The Lady Tigers took a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter in their game against Class 2A, Area 12 rival Phil Campbell.
Red Bay had 26 points before the Lady Bobcats scored again, and the Lady Tigers’ defense picked them up yet another win, this time by 20 points.
“We didn’t play well tonight,” Red Bay head coach Donnie Roberts said. “We missed a lot of shots, but this is just our fifth game. We got a late start, and we are still learning. We’ll get better with more games. I’m happy with how hard we played tonight and happy to get an area win.”
Senior Lexy Lindsey led Red Bay in scoring with 21 points on the night. Kasey Sparks added 11 and Allie Kennedy contributed 8. Also scoring for Red Bay were: Alaina Hester (6), Darby Madden (6), Elizabeth Wooten (3), Morgan Pierce (3) and Carlee Berry (2).
“We had too many turnovers tonight,” Phil Campbell head coach Darit Riddle said. “We had 27. We played with them in the second half, and I’m proud of the girls. They played hard, we just missed shots.”
The roles reversed in the nightcap, as it was the Bobcats who picked up the 12-point victory over their area and county opponent.
Phil Campbell managed to stay ahead for most of the game, but Red Bay nipped at the Bobcats’ heels the whole contest.
The Bobcats had a 23-11 lead at the end of the first and a 27-19 halftime lead.
The Tigers outscored Phil Campbell 8-4 in a low-scoring second quarter. This momentum carried over to the third period, where Red Bay came within four points of the lead at 32-28 with 5:40 remaining.
Phil Campbell was able to close out the contest from there, though, picking up the area win.
Colton Vickery was the leading scorer for the Bobcats on the night with 17 points, with Skeeter Benford right behind him with 16.
Also scoring for Phil Campbell were: Austin Jones (10), Cameron Harris (10) and Hayden Bell (5).
Michael Ramirez led the game in individual scoring with 21 points.
Also scoring for Red Bay were: Austin Thorn (8), Barry Reach (8), Tra Elliott (6), Levi Humphres (4) and Kyle Fuller (1).
