Lady Tigers finish season on top
Red Bay Head Coach Donnie Roberts talks strategy with his team during a timeout.
by Bart Moss for the FCT
Last year the Red Bay Lady Tigers reached the finals of the 2A state championship but lost to Woodland. That loss lingered in the back of Donnie Roberts’ squad for the past twelve months.
They finally got vindication last Friday afternoon on the arena floor of the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center by defeating Geneva County 34-29 to claim the 2015 2A state championship.
“It was not a good feeling at all,” said Morgan Pierce, one of the game’s heroes. “We hate to lose.”
It was Pierce’s three-point basket that stopped a 10-0 run by Geneva County with 7:42 to go in the ballgame. Red Bay, who had held the lead since the beginning of the second quarter, found themselves down 26-22 before Pierce’s big shot.
“That was a big shot,” said Roberts. “They had the momentum. If Morgan hadn’t hit that shot I’m not sure what would have happened.”
The game’s other unsung hero, Hope Cook, drove in for a layup, hit the shot, was fouled and went to the line to help the Tigers regain the lead 28-26.
Cook’s defensive effort against Geneva County’s best shooter—Lacy Stafford—however, is what earned her coach’s praise.
“Hope gave us a great defensive effort,” said Roberts. “We wanted to deny number 23 ball the ball. Hope’s job was to go everywhere she went and she did. She worked her tail off and did a fantastic job.”
Stafford scored 20 of the Geneva County’s 29 points but they were hard earned points and she was just 7 of 18 from the field.
“She’s a great player,” said Cook. “I tried to stay with her everywhere she went. She got free a few times. I took it as a challenge and it worked out.”
Cook ended the game with seven points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and three assists.
Allie Kennedy and Darby Madden, usually the team’s top two scorers, garnered much of the attention of the Geneva County defensive plan. Kennedy and Madden were limited to six and seven points respectively. Pierce and Cook picked up the slack scoring eleven and ten points respectively.
“That is team basketball,” said Roberts. “They had a good game plan coming into the game. They executed well, but our girls found a way to win the game. I very proud of them.”
The game was back and forth throughout much of the first quarter. Geneva County led 9-6 at the end of the first period of play. The Tigers got back on track in the second quarter when they settled down into their offense.
“From my viewpoint, we started the game shooting too many threes and they weren’t going in,” said Roberts.
Red Bay was 3 for 11 from behind the three-point line in the first half.
“We’ve always coached our girls to go inside before shooting a three. After that first quarter, it really just turned into a defensive struggle,” Roberts said.
For Red Bay’s part, their focus on Stafford paid off.
“We wanted to deny her the ball,” said Roberts. “Darby sat back in the lane and essentially played a one-man zone. She was there to pick up the slack if Hope [Cook] got beat defensively. Our other guards did a good job stopping penetration.”
One of the keys to the game was rebounding. Red Bay out rebounded Geneva County 30-26.
“We know boxing out is very important,” said Pierce who had eight rebounds to go along with her game-high 11 points. “If you win the rebounding battle you usually win the game.”
It was Red Bay’s first state championship since 2001 and their sixth girl’s basketball championship in school history. It also marked the 835th victory for Coach Donnie Roberts. The Lady Tigers end the season with a 25-9 record.
