County boys teams wrap up regular season

By Bart Moss / For the FCT

Belgreen 56, Red Bay 53

Mason Bragwell scored seven points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Belgreen Bulldogs to another close win over the Red Bay Tigers, 56-53.

In their first meeting since the double overtime thriller two weeks ago, the two teams took another game down to the wire. Belgreen got the win despite a big 26-point night for Red Bay center Gath Weatherford.

Red Bay held a narrow 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter before Belgreen took a 25-22 lead at halftime. The two teams deadlocked in the second half, with both teams scoring 16 points in the third quarter and 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Mason Bragwell led the Bulldogs with 17 points. He went eight of nine from the free throw line, including four for four in the critical fourth quarter. Eli Hiser and Brant Bragwell added 11 points and 10 points respectively. Jacob Mayberry and Seth Taylor finished with six points each. Payton Scott contributed four points and Gavin Taylor contributed two points to the win.

Clay Allison followed Weatherford in scoring with nine points. Braden Ray added eight points, Peyton Green four points, Jalen Vinson three points and Colton Corum three points.

Belgreen 72, Fayette County 71

Hiser hit some big free throws down the stretch, including the game-winner with seven seconds left on the clock, to lift Belgreen over class 4A Fayette County 72-71 last week. The win pushed the Bulldogs to 20-5 on the season.

Belgreen got the win despite a 39-point night by Fayette’s leading scorer Darius Nalls.

Fayette County led Belgreen 21-19 at the end of the first quarter. Belgreen came storming back in the second quarter, outscoring Fayette County 24-13 to take a 43-34 halftime lead. The Tigers returned the favor in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 21-11 to retake the lead 55-54 going into the fourth quarter. Belgreen outpaced Fayette County 18-16 in the fourth quarter to get the win.

Mason Bragwell led Belgreen with 19 points. Mayberry finished the game with 17 points. Hiser added 14 points. Brant Bragwell contributed eight points , Scott seven points, Gavin Taylor three points, Jake Taylor two points and Seth Taylor two points.

Tharptown finds positives in losses

It’s hard to find many positives in a loss, but Tharptown coach Shannon Benford found some last week in losses to 4A powers Deshler and East Lawrence.

“These were good games for us heading into the area tournament,” said Benford. “Levi (McCormack) had a great night shooting against East Lawrence, hitting several three-pointers. I thought we played well as a team against Deshler, which mgith be one of the best teams in northwest Alabama. Hopefully we can take the lessons we learned in those games and play well in the area tournament.”

East Lawrence 63, Tharptown 48

Levi McCormack sank nine three pointers for Tharptown last week, but it wasn’t enough to overcome East Lawrence, as the Eagles won 63-48.

Tharptown led East Lawrence 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, but the Eagles came soaring back to take a 28-23 lead at halftime. East Lawrence extended the lead to 42-36 at the end of the third quarter, and the Eagles blew the game open in the fourth quarter, outscoring Tharptown 21-12 to close out the game.

McCormack led the Wildcats with 29 points. Misael Saldana added seven points, Edward Lopez six points, Winston Nolen five points, Cole Daniel four points and Aaron Creasy three points.

Deshler 78, Tharptown 63

The Deshler Tigers raced out to a 15-point first half lead over Tharptown and hung on for the 78-63 win Friday night.

Deshler outpaced Tharptown 20-16 in the first quarter, and the Tigers doubled up the Wildcats in the second quarter 22-11 to take a 42-27 halftime lead. Tharptown had a good third quarter, outscoring Deshler 17-15 to make the score 57-44 at the end of the third quarter, but Deshler outscored Tharptown 21-19 in the fourth quarter to hold onto the win.

Daniel led Tharptown with 15 points. Lopez added 14 points. Saldana contributed 10 points. Creasy finished the game with nine points, McCormack eight points, Carson Petree five points and Nolen four points.

Hamilton 56, Red Bay 55

The Red Bay Tigers couldn’t hold onto an 11-point first half lead, as they fell to the Hamilton Aggies 56-55.

Red Bay jumped out to an 18-11 first quarter lead and extended the lead to 36-25 at halftime. The Aggies cut the Tigers’ lead to 45-38 by the end of the third quarter. Hamilton kept their scoring surge going in the fourth quarter to squeak out the one-point win.

Weatherford and Allison led Red Bay with 19 points and 17 points respectively. Ray added nine points, Vinson five points, Hunter Bays three points and Green two points.

Tanner Hamilton led Red Bay with 12 points in 38-25 B-varsity loss to the Aggies.

Hatton 56, Red Bay 48

The Red Bay Tigers couldn’t overcome a sluggish first half, losing to the Hatton Hornets 56-48.

Weatherford led Red Bay with 13 points. He was followed by Green with 10 points. Allison, Corum and Ray scored six points each. Bays finished the game with three points, and Vinson and Noah Brewer added two points each.

Phil Campbell 56, Winston County 29

The Phil Campbell Bobcats easily defeated the Winston County Yellow Jackets 56-29 on Senior Night. The win closed out the regular season for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats jumped out to a 15-6 first quarter lead and extended their lead to 34-12 at halftime. Phil Campbell extended the lead ever further to 50-20 in the third quarter.

Joe Hardy and Peyton Thomas led Phil Campbell with 12 points and 11 points respectively. Rhett Benford added nine points. Nate Owens and Brody Nix finished the game with eight points each. Daniel Smith, Isaac Cummings, Ben Williams and Cody Cothum scored two points each.