Red Bay Tigers lose grip late
by Keith Ledbetter
“We’re coming together as a team. These kids see it and we’re working hard.”
Red Bay was scoreless for the first three minutes against New Site last Friday but came back to score ten points to trail by three at the first quarter end.
New Site outscored Red Bay 12-5 in the second to take a 25-15 lead at halftime.
Isaiah Jackson and Jesus Kelly connected on three pointers in the third help hold the Royals’ lead to only seven by the start of the fourth.
Buddy Kuykendall added a free throw and a two pointer to cut the lead to 34-30 in the early minutes of the fourth. Kelly connected on a three from the left side to cut the Royals’ lead to three points, 34-31, near the six minute mark.
New Site went on a 21 point scoring run in the final minutes for the win.
Jesus Kelly scored 11 points, Isaiah Jackson had 10, Buddy Kuykendall scored six, Dakota Hester added five, Daniel Wooten scored two for Red Bay.
Along with the Lady Tigers, the Red Bay boys struggled with the officiating in the New Site game.
“What I’ve told our kids is that you have to overcome adversity. You never know when it’s going to happen and you have to play through it.
“We struggled with that Tuesday night, but tonight we did a great job and just kept our heads down and played.
“I tell them it’s my job to get on the officials. They just need to play basketball and they’ve done that this week,” Noah added.
The Tigers will host Belmont on Dec. 19, and Tremont on Dec. 22.
