Belgreen girls advance to regionals
By Bart Moss / For the FCT
The Belgreen Bulldogs overcame a third quarter lull to upend the Marion County Red Raiders 71-45 and advance to the Northwest Regional Tournament. The Bulldogs will play Holy Spirit Friday at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville at 6 p.m.
“It was a good win on the road,” said Belgreen coach Chad Green. “We did a good job on the board, getting rebounds. We pressed the whole game and got good results from it. We hit some outside shots but did a really good job of driving to the goal against their 2-3 zone defense and finishing around the basket.”
Belgreen led Marion County 19-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs outscored Marion County 23-17 in the second quarter to extend their lead to 42-27 at halftime.
The third quarter got a little dicey for the Bulldogs. Marion County cut Belgreen’s lead to just five points midway through the quarter.
“We just lost our intensity,” said Green. “We came out too relaxed and in a bit of a lull. We recovered well and went on a run to put the game away.”
The Bulldogs went on a 13-1 run to close out the quarter and led 56-39 going into the final period of play.
Belgreen, a good free-throw shooting team, went 19-28 from the line and five-of-seven in the fourth quarter.
Belgreen had five players in double figures, with Emma Dempsey leading the way with 18 points. Autumn Bragwell followed with 12 points, Gracie Dempsey with 11 points, Katie Dempsey with 10 points and Jasmine Martin with 10 points, all coming in the second quarter.
Ansley Tate added five points, Emma Willingham three points and Gabbie Moore two points.
Belgreen falls to Phillips in area finals
The Belgreen Bulldogs stayed with second-ranked Phillips for a little while Friday night in the 1A, Area 13 girls final. But in the end, the Bears were just too strong for the Bulldogs, winning 71-43.
The loss meant Belgreen would have to travel to Guin to take on the Marion County Red Raiders in the subregion game.
Autumn Bragwell led Belgreen with 17 points, including hitting five three-pointers in the game. Ansley Tate followed with seven points, Emma Dempsey six points, Gabbie Moore five points, Emma Willingham three points, Katie Dempsey two points, Jasmine Martin two points and Megan Smith one point.
Semifinals: Belgreen 76, Vina 52
If you don’t shoot, you can’t score. That seemed to be Belgreen’s defensive philosophy in the third quarter of Tuesday night’s 76-52 semifinal win over Vina, which sent the Bulldogs to the finals and brought Vina’s season to an end.
Semifinals: Phillips 88, Tharptown 46
The Tharptown Wildcats had a tall task in trying to take down the second-ranked 1A team in the state. Although the Wildcats stayed with Phillips early in the game Tuesday night, the end result was like many of the previous – an easy win for a very talented team. Tharptown’s season came to an end with the 88-46 lopsided loss to the Bears.
Quarterfinals: Tharptown 42, Hackleburg 24
The Tharptown Wildcats blanked the Hackleburg Panthers in the first quarter en route to an easy 42-24 win in the quarterfinals of the 1A, Area 13 girls tournament. With the win, Tharptown earned the unenviable task of trying to take down the second-ranked Phillips Bears in the semifinals Tuesday night.
