Belgreen fall to Phillips in area championship game

By Bart Moss for the FCT

Finals- Phillips 57, Belgreen 45

The Phillips She Bears made some slight adjustments to their full court pressure defense and their half court defense in the fourth quarter and it was all they need to run away from the Belgreen Bulldogs 57-45 and claim the 1A, Area 13 championship.  Belgreen (15-14) will have to travel to R.A. Hubbard in the subregion Monday night at 7PM.

“We were playing good defense and being patient with the ball on offense,” said Belgreen coach Chad Green.  “Then we got a little lazy and careless with our passes, made four huge turnovers against a very athletic team and it got away from us.”

Phillips (23-6) raced out to an 11-5 lead midway through the first quarter before Belgreen tightened the score to 12-9 by the end of the quarter.  Camie Terrell nailed a three pointer to tie the game at 12-12 to open the second quarter.  Phillips would go on a 7-0 late in the second quarter and take a 23-19 lead into the halftime locker room.

Phillips stretched their lead out to 34-26 with 2:48 to go in the third quarter.  Belgreen was able to stop the Bears run when Autumn Bragwell hit a three point shot with 2:28 to go in the third to make the score 34-29.  The Bulldogs cut the lead to three at the end of the third quarter when Emma Dempsey hit a putback to make the score 36-33.  That would be as close as Belgreen would get.  

Phillips dialed their full court pressure back to half court pressure to keep the ball out of the middle and forced several Belgreen turnovers.  Phillips went on a 9-0 run in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 45-33.  The Bears would go on to get the win and championship.

Eighth grader Emma Dempsey led Belgreen with 17 points.  Gabbie Moore and Jasmine Martin scored seven points each.  Camie Terrell had five points.  Shellie Barber, Katie Dempsey and Autumn Bragwell added three points each.

“Emma played an outstanding game for us tonight,” said Green.  “She stepped up and played big for an eighth grader.  She played the middle well and was aggressive to the basket.”

Emma Dempsey, Shellie Barber and Jasmine Martin made the all-tournament team for Belgreen.  Brooke Daily made for Tharptown and Abby Hester for Vina.

Semifinals- Belgreen 37, Hackleburg 34

The Belgreen Bulldogs found themselves in tight, defensive battle tonight with the Hackleburg Panthers.  The winner would go on to the area finals, the loser to the house.  Faced with a tie game going into the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs stepped up their game and outlasted Hackleburg winning 37-34.  Belgreen will face Phillips in the finals of the area tournament.

Both teams fought to a 10-10 stalemate in the first quarter.  Hackleburg gained a slight advantage in the second quarter outscoring the Bulldogs 8-6 to take an 18-16 halftime lead.  Belgreen evened the game again outscoring the Panthers 7-5 in the third quarter to tie the game at 23-23 going into the final period of play.  Belgreen, with their postseason hopes on the line, got two big three pointers from Shellie Barber and Gabbie Moore to outpace Hackleburg 14-11 to get the 37-34 win.  

Jasmine Martin led Belgreen with nine points.  Barber and Emma Dempsey added six points each.  Moore and Katie Dempsey finished with five points each.  Brianna Wood had four points and Camie Terrell two points.

Paula Camp led Hackleburg with 15 points.

Semifinals- Phillips 69, Vina 52

The top seeded Phillips She Bears eliminated the Vina Red Devils from area competition Wednesday night 69-42.  The loss ended a successful season for the Red Devils.  Phillips will host Belgreen in the finals Friday night.

Phillips rolled out to a 19-8 first quarter lead over Vina.  Vina kept it close for the next three quarters but could never over the lopsided first quarter.  The Bears outscored the Red Devils 17-15 in the second quarter to extend their lead to 36-23 at halftime.  Phillips led Vina 54-39 at the end of the third quarter.  The Bears outpaced the Red Devils 15-13 in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Abby Hester led Vina with 24 points.  She was followed by Kaitlyn King with 19 points and Emma Humphres with nine points.

Julianna Taylor led the way for Phillips with 23 points.

Quarterfinals- Vina 69, Tharptown 51

In the 1A, Area 13 quarterfinals, the Vina Red Devils scored 30 points in the second quarter to help eliminate the Tharptown Wildcats from area competition.  The Red Devils would go on to win 69-51 improving their record to 22-8.  It was the first area tournament win for Vina in fifteen years.

Abby Hester led Vina with 27 points.  Tharptown was led by Catie Dawson with 13 points.