THS, BHS claim area titles
Belgreen’s Jake Tittle (30) looks on as Tharptown’s bench celebrates the Wildcats’ 53-51 victory to claim the Class 1A, Area 13 title Monday night. It is the first area title for Tharptown. | Scot Beard/FCT
BELGREEN — Fans expected Monday night’s Class 1A, Area 13 Tournament title game between host Belgreen and visiting Tharptown to be one of the best games of the season.
What they saw was a fast-paced game in which both teams lost leads of at least nine points and Belgreen getting two chances to tie or win in the final two seconds. Unfortunately for the Bulldog faithful, Belgreen could not tie the game and Tharptown walked off the court with a 53-51 victory to claim the first area title in the history of the boys program.
“Every game against Belgreen has been a knock-down, drag-out fight,” said Tharptown coach Jonathan Odom.
It was the second time the Wildcats have beaten the seventh-ranked Bulldogs in Belgreen.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game, but Tharptown fought back and closed out the first quarter with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to build a 16-12 lead. The Wildcats led throughout the second quarter and led by 10 points early in the third quarter before Belgreen put together a comeback.
Channey Simmons hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Bulldogs to tie the score 35-35, but Tharptown ended the quarter on a 10-5 run to regain control.
Belgreen chipped away at the lead throughout the fourth and a steal with 15 seconds remaining in the game led to a lay up by Brian Vance to tie the game 51-51.
Tharptown’s Kelby Hallmark wasted no time driving the ball back down the court and scored the winning basket for the Wildcats with two seconds remaining. Belgreen attempted to inbound the ball, but fouled Tharptown, sending Hallmark to the line.
Hallmark missed the front end of a one-and-one. Belgreen grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 0.3 seconds to play. The Bulldogs were unable to get a shot off, leaving Tharptown victorious.
“I thought we blew it when Vance scored,” Odom said. “It showed a lot of heart and courage not giving up there.”
Wesley Borden led the Wildcats with 16 points while Hallmark added 15 points. Also scoring for Tharptown were Nick Long (7), Jacob Parker (6), Rile Hughes (4) and Nathan Gray (2).
Jake Tittle scored a game-high 22 points for Belgreen while Vance added 10 points. Also scoring for the Bulldogs were Simmons (9), Tyler Medina (4), Will Hester (3), Josh DeVaney (2) and Cody Glasgow (1).
With the win Tharptown will host Shoals Christian Friday in the sub-regional round of the state playoffs.
It is the first time a team from Tharptown has hosted a sub-regional game.
Belgreen will travel to R.A. Hubbard for its sub-regional game.
Belgreen 63, Hackleburg 48
Belgreen built a sizable lead early in the game, but Hackleburg fought back and kept the game close until the fourth quarter when the Lady Bulldogs pulled away for good and clinched their fifth consecutive area title.
Erica Smith scored a game-high 21 points for Belgreen while Bridget Thompson and Katelin Barber added 12 points each. Also scoring for Belgreen were Lydia DeVaney (8), Alivia Holcomb (8) and Kristi O’Dell (2).
Hailee Hart scored 20 points for Hackleburg while Ashley Keplinger added 17 points.
With the win Belgreen will host Covenant Christian in the sub-regional round of the state playoffs Thursday.
It is a rematch of last year’s sub-regional round in which Covenant Christian rallied to upset the Lady Bulldogs.
Hackleburg will travel to R.A. Hubbard for its sub-regional game.
