Two THS teams, Belgreen punch ticket to finals
Two years ago Jordan Benford drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give propel Phil Campbell past Tharptown in the finals of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament.
Friday night Benford drained six 3-pointers – including four in the fourth quarter – on his way to scoring a game high 31 points, but it was Tharptown that walked off the court victorious this year, defeating the Bobcats 84-73 to advance to the finals of the county tournament against area foe Belgreen.
With the loss Phil Campbell lost its opportunity to win its third consecutive county title.
“We got beat by a good team,” Phil Campbell coach Will Copeland said. “We were too inconsistent and it is hard to come back against a good team.”
After trading the lead for much of the first half, Tharptown pulled away late in the second to take a 36-31 advantage into halftime.
The Wildcats ended the third quarter on a 10-2 run to build a 12-point lead and led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter before the Bobcats put together a rally.
Behind Benford’s four 3-pointers and another trey by Cameron Harris, Phil Campbell cut Tharptown’s lead to 79-73 late in the game. Tharptown scored the game’s final five points – all on free throws – to secure the win.
“We did well playing zone and cutting down on inside chances,” Tharptown coach Jonathan Odom said. “Conventional wisdom says don’t play zone against Phil Campbell.”
The Bobcats took advantage of the zone coverage to hit 11 3-pointers during the game, but Phil Campbell could not stop Tharptown’s dual attack of Jacob Parker and Kelby Hallmark.
Parker led the Wildcats with 27 points while Hallmark scored 16 points. Also scoring for Tharptown were Wesley Borden (9), Cody Cagle (9), Nick Long (7), Rile Hughes (7), Wade Berryman (5), Nathan Gray (2) and William Washington (2).
Benford’s 31 points led the Bobcats while Colton Vickery and Harris scored 12 points each. Also scoring for Phil Campbell were Ben Stancil (5), Skeeter Benford (3), D.J. Hall (2), Chase Swinney (2), Jeremy Reed (2) and Jamie Dorroh.
Odom said it will be nice to play for the county title on the Wildcats’ home court, but it will not be much of an advantage against Belgreen.
“They beat us here and we beat them there,” Odom said. “Both teams play hard and both teams play well.”
The championship game will be tonight at 8 p.m.
Belgreen 47, Tharptown 44
The last time the Lady Bulldogs played was two weeks ago against Tharptown. Belgreen pulled away early in that game and cruised to a victory to clinch the regular season area title.
Friday night the rust showed and Belgreen got a much tougher game against the Lady Wildcats, but managed to hold on for a 47-44 win.
Tharptown took the early lead and held a 9-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter before Belgreen opened the second quarter with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good.
The Lady Bulldogs were ahead 10 points at halftime and extended the lead to 14 points by the end of the third quarter.
Belgreen’s shooting went cold in the third quarter and some poor play allowed the Lady Wildcats to chip away at the lead. Chloe Lane drained a 3-pointer to cut Belgreen’s lead to 46-41. She then hit a free throw and Kendra Baker added a basket to pull Tharptown within two points in the final minute.
Bridget Thompson added a free throw for Belgreen moments later and Tharptown’s attempt to tie the game at the buzzer failed.
Erica Smith led Belgreen with 14 points while Katelin Barber added 13 points and Alivia Holcomb scored 10 points. Also scoring for the Lady Bulldogs were Thompson (6), Lydia DeVaney (3) and Sara McMahan (1).
Baker was the leading scorer for Tharptown with 15 points while Lane added 13 points. Also scoring for the Lady Wildcats were Kamri Sears (8), Braeden Sellers (6) and Kirsten Nolan (2).
With the win the Lady Bulldogs advance to tonight’s final against Red Bay. Belgreen ended Red Bay’s streak of 11 consecutive county titles in the finals of last year’s county tournament.
Tonight’s game begins at 6:30 p.m.
Tharptown 36, Phil Campbell 30
Trailing by six in the third quarter Tharptown used back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to take control of the game and earn a spot in the B-Team finals of the Franklin County Basketball Tournament against Red Bay.
The Wildcats outscored Phil Campbell 13-10 in the final quarter to pull out the victory.
Riley Nolan scored a game-high 16 points for Tharptown while Austin Daniel had seven points. Also scoring for the Wildcats were Colton Blankenship (4), Hayden Fleming (4), Jacob Flanagan (3) and Anthony Gray (2).
Brady Whitten led Phil Campbell with eight points while Jacob Ayers, Austin Jones and Corey Potter scored six points each. Joseph Butts also scored four points for the Bobcats.
Tonight’s final begins at 5 p.m.
