Red Bay B-team tops Phil Campbell for title
By Staff
Scot Beard
RED BAY – The Phil Campbell B-Team boys basketball team tried to rally several times Saturday during the championship game of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament, but Red Bay proved too strong down the stretch and defeated the Bobcats 54-42.
The game was close throughout the first half. Phil Campbell broke open a 10-10 tie to take a 16-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Red Bay fought back in the second and closed out the quarter on a 10-3 to cut the Bobcats' lead to 26-25 at halftime.
The Tigers scored the first four points of the third quarter to take the lead early. They pushed their lead to 35-28, but Phil Campbell battled back to pull within three points.
Red Bay scored the next 10 points to take control of the game. Phil Campbell closed out the quarter with three points, but Red Bay still had a 10-point lead entering the final period.
The Bobcats opened the fourth with an 8-2 run to climb back into the game, but Red Bay scored the game's final seven points to secure the win.
Phil Campbell 39,
Tharptown 36
A desperation 3-pointer from Tharptown's Brian Higgins fell short as the final buzzer sounded Friday and Phil Campbell escaped with a 39-36 win in the semifinals of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament.
Tharptown built a 12-8 lead by the end of the first quarter but the Bobcats fought back to tie the game 16-16 by halftime.
The Wildcats led 30-27 heading into the final quarter but Phil Campbell tied the score early. The teams swapped the lead a few times before Phil Campbell's Kody Ortiz put the Bobcats ahead good by hitting a free throw with 25 seconds remaining.
Rick Miller extended the lead to 39-36 with a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left to play.
Cory Alexander led the Bobcats with 11 points while D.J. Hall added nine. Also scoring for Phil Campbell was Ortiz (4), Miller (4), Chase Swinney (4), Craig Saint (3), Cameron Harris (2) and Brent Whitten (2).
Nathan Gray led Tharptown with 12 points while Higgins and Kent Allen scored 10 points each. Also scoring for the Wildcats were Hayden Fleming (3) and Rile Hughes (1).
