Red Bay ends regular season with squeaker
by Keith Ledbetter for the FCT
With the 2015 post season starting this week, Red Bay’s varsity
boys ended the regular season on a positive note Friday night with
a 67-63 squeaker win over the Belgreen Bulldogs.
Red Bay boys coach Matt Noah has had to turn to replacements
to fill a void due to injuries to three starters who are out for the season.
“We’ve talked about the importance of this last regular season
game leading up to the area tournament,” said Noah following the
win.
“The guys that have stepped up for injured players have really
started coming together.
“Belgreen’s record doesn’t reflect how good they are. They’re
no slouch. They beat us by 38 points at our place, so to come here
and get a win on their home court is huge, and it’s going to be a
confidence boost for us,” added Noah.
Red Bay will face Phil Campbell for the fourth time on Tuesday
in the 2AAHSAAArea 15 tournament at Sulligent.
The winner of that game will play Sulligent for the championship
on Friday.
Belgreen will play Vina Tueday in the 1AArea 15 Tournament
that’s hosted by Phillips.
The winner will play Phillips on Thursday, and will face the winner
of the Hackleburg and Covenant Christian for the championship
on Saturday.
Red Bay jumped out early over Belgreen and led 9-2 in the first
minutes, but Belgreen cut it to one point, 10-9 on foul shots by Benjamin
Inman.
A three pointer from Red Bay’s Jesus Kelley, and a two point
basket from Dylan Gresham extended the Tigers’ lead to 17-9 near
the two minute mark of the first.
Red Bay’s Nick Thorn connected on a three from the left side,
but the Bulldogs’ Dakota Davis cut Red Bay’s advantage to 20-13
with a basket at the buzzer.
Red Bay led by seven points at the end of the first, second, and
third quarters. The Bulldogs came within one point of tying the
game in the first, second and fourth quarters and had a 37-37 tie in
the third, but could never take the lead.
Dylan Gresham led Red Bay with 17 points. Nick Thorn scored
13, Dakota Hester scored 10, Tate Ozbirn had nine, Jesus Kelley
scored six, Austin Milam scored four, Chandler Allen had three,
Daniel Wooten scored two.
Belgreen’s Dakota Davis scored 14, Benjamin Inman had 13,
Shawn Jones scored 11, Payton Scott added seven, Abram Thorn
had six, Shane Devaney scored five, Cade Parrish scored three,
Joseph Welch and Franky Wallace scored two each.
