Belgreen, Red Bay girls advance
By Staff
Kim West
BELGREEN – The top-seeded Belgreen girls beat No. 3 seed Waterloo 54-40 Thursday and notched their 20th win to advance to the Class 1A, Area 16 tournament finals Saturday.
The Lady Bulldogs led all four quarters and had a 23-point advantage heading into the final period as Martha Billingham and Amber Smith each scored 12 points, while Deborah Billingham added 10 for Belgreen (20-7).
Staci Daniel scored 15 points for Waterloo, and Morgan Parker finished with 11.
Red Bay 66
Cherokee 24
RED BAY – No. 5 Red Bay rolled past Cherokee 66-24 Thursday to earn a return trip to the Class 2A, Area 16 championship game.
Ten players scored for Red Bay as the Lady Tigers held Cherokee to only 12 points in each half.
Chelsey McWilliams battled through illness to score 16 points, while Morgan Duncan had 10 points and Aimee Jackson and Meghann Oliver added seven points apiece for Red Bay (21-7), which advanced to play No. 2 seed Mars Hill Saturday.
Allyson Jefferys led Cherokee with 10 points.
Mars Hill 86
Phil Campbell 78
RED BAY – Mars Hill nearly fell victim to an inspired comeback by the Phil Campbell girls Thursday in the opening round of the Class 2A, Area 16 area tournament, but the second-seeded Lady Panthers prevailed 86-78.
Phil Campbell produced its highest points output this season after falling behind 32-16 in the first quarter and trailing by 21 points at halftime.
Despite its most balanced scoring effort this season and a 50-37 scoring advantage in the second half, the Lady Bobcats couldn't overcome a school-record 57 points and 10 rebounds from Mars Hill junior Sarah Bailey, who averages nearly 30 points per game.
"We pulled within two points midway through the fourth quarter, and we had three chances to either tie or go ahead," Phil Campbell coach Amy Moss said.
Phil Campbell's Chasity Morgan, who scored 14 points, fouled out with 6:20 remaining in the fourth, and fellow senior Alissa Smith, who poured in a season-high 30 points, also fouled out with three minutes left in the game.
"We changed our defense to straight man in the second half, and Chasity (Morgan) face-guarded Bailey. After Chasity fouled out, our eighth-grade point guard (Whitley Yocum) came in and did a great job for us," Moss said.
Jessica Taylor contributed 15 points, and Shannon Gasaway added 14 for the Lady Bobcats (7-22)
Baylee Jeffreys scored 13 for Mars Hill (17-9).
"We had a lot of momentum in the second half, and the girls just had a 'refuse to lose' attitude – I challenged them at halftime to come out and play with heart and passion in the second half, and that's what they did. They're upset about not winning the game, because they knew they could have beaten Mars Hill," Moss said.
"It's been a hard season, but I'm proud of how they fought through it. This is a great group of girls and I told them that if they were as good athletically as they are good, all-around kids, than they would be undefeated this season."
