Red Bay dominates county junior high tournament
A-Junior Boys Final: Red Bay 40, Tharptown 17
The Red Bay Tigers dominated the Tharptown Wildcats from the middle of the second quarter to the end of Saturday night’s final championship game to win the tournament 40-17.
Tharptown led Red Bay 8-6 at the end of the first quarter and extended that lead to 12-6 about midway through the second quarter. Red Bay hit three three-pointers to go from down six points to up six points and proceeded to go on a 28-1 run for much of the rest of the game.
Tharptown went without a field goal from the four-minute mark in the second quarter to the 3:46 mark in the fourth quarter, when Luis Valdez got a steal and layup.
“The ninth-grade team showed flashes of really good basketball yesterday,” said Red Bay coach John Torisky. “When we defend, we can be really good. As a whole, they were really good at times and not so good at times. I think their inconsistent play was due to time between games and a shorter schedule than the eighth grade. I look for a lot of good things to come out of this group in the future.”
Andrew Ray led Red Bay with 13 points. Carson Corum added six points, Paden Allison five points, Bryson Hacker four points, B.P. Blair three points, Charlie Huffman three points, Elijah Luster two points and Coby Jackson two points.
Valdez and Greyson Studdard led Tharptown with six points each. Briley Kirby added four points and Tyler Amos one point.
A-Junior Girls: Phil Campbell 37, Tharptown 31
The Phil Campbell Bobcats survived a strong defensive effort by the Tharptown Wildcats to win the A-junior girls championship 37-31.
Phil Campbell forced six first-quarter turnovers to race out to a 16-8 lead over Tharptown. The Wildcats, however, were able to force the Bobcats to take some tough shots and held Phil Campbell to just one field goal in the second quarter. Tharptown wasn’t able to take advantage, just outscoring Phil Campbell 4-3 to give the Bobcats a 19-12 halftime lead.
Tharptown’s Emily Campos hit a three at the end of the third quarter to help the Wildcats close the scoring gap to 27-21. Tharptown cut Phil Campbell’s lead to one point, 28-27, with 3:04 to go in the game.
“This is a great group of girls to end with,” said Phil Campbell coach Tracy Pace, who coached her last game for the Bobcats. “The girls kept working yesterday until they got it done. I love them, and I’m excited to keep watching them grow.”
Madison Branch led Phil Campbell with 21 points. Jade Roberson added eight points, Kenner Scott four points, Faith Cook three points and Allie Herring two points.
Campos led Tharptown with 12 points. Autumn Montgomery added eight points, Jaiden Gaston five points, Taylor Cameron four points and Kaitlyn Simmons two points.
B-Junior Boys: Red Bay 53, Phil Campbell 29
The Red Bay Tigers jumped on the Phil Campbell Bobcats from the opening tip of the B-Junior boys championship game and didn’t let up until they had come away with a 53-29 win.
Red Bay outscored Phil Campbell in all four quarters. The Tigers jumped out to a 14-7 first-quarter lead and extended their lead to 24-13 by halftime. Red Bay added to their lead in the third quarter, taking a 35-20 advantage into the final period of play.
“We closed the season on a seven-game winning streak,” said Red Bay coach Kevin Morrow. “I feel like we played some of our best basketball after the Christmas break. We peaked at the best time.
“I am really excited for next year,” Morrow added. “We only had two eighth-graders and 11 seventh-graders on the team, so we were really young.”
Cody Carnes led Red Bay with 19 points. Lawson Glover added nine points, Ethan McCoy eight points, Carsten Hollander four points, Holdon Inmon four points, Brady Bolton three points, Eli Farris two points, Caden Keeton two points and Gage Edgmon two points.
Malachi Gholston led Phil Campbell with eight points. Jacob Barnwell added seven points, J.J. Quillen six points, Brenen Mimer four points, Braxton Goodson two points and Clayton DeMartin two points.
B-Junior Girls: Red Bay 30, Tharptown 19
After a slow start, the Red Bay Tigers gradually pulled away from the Tharptown Wildcats to win the B-Junior girls.
Tharptown led Red Bay 6-3 at the end of the first quarter, but the Tigers outscored the Bobcats 9-4 in the second quarter to take a12-10 halftime lead. Red Bay outpaced Phil Campbell 11-6 in the third quarter to extend that lead to 23-16 going into the final period of play. Kaylie Lindley hit a three-pointer with 2:50 to go in the game to give Red Bay a 10-point lead.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel like we had the best team in the county at the beginning of the year, but I felt like they had the potential to be,” said Red Bay coach Shauna Humphries. “They were one of the hardest-working teams I’ve had, and I’m so proud their hard work paid off.”
Lindley led Red Bay with 14 points, followed by Gretchen Davis with 11 points. Amber Mason added three points and Zoe Henly two points.
Harleigh Borden led Tharptown with 10 points. Sarah Mansell added four points, Kyndall Morgan three points and Morgan Vandiver two points.
