Wildcats win, Wildcats lose

J.R. Tidwell/FCT Patrick Tharp (24), a senior for the Tharptown Wildcats, makes a free throw against the Colbert Heights Wildcats Thursday night.

THARPTOWN — When it comes to games between Tharptown and Colbert Heights, the Wildcats are sure to win.

As a matter of fact, the Wildcats in blue and white are bound to win.

As far as the boys varsity game went Thursday night, it was the Colbert Heights Wildcats that won by a final of 45-37.

Colbert Heights kept on or near a 10-point lead for most of the game, but Tharptown was never out of the contest.

“You can’t win many games scoring in the 30s,” Tharptown head coach Jonathan Odom said. “They did a decent job on defense, and we had a hard time putting the ball in the goal.”

Colbert Heights was up 13-5 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter had as much to do with missed shots on both sides as id did defense, but the two teams combined for just 8 points in the period.

Still, it was Colbert Heights that went into the locker room with a 17-9 advantage.

Things did not change much in the third quarter, as Colbert Heights maintained the lead at 23-16.

Tharptown managed to whittle down the gap to 6 or 7 points on a handful of occasions but could never fully overcome the gap.

When the final eight minutes of play flashed onto the scoreboard, things became very different.

Colbert Heights scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to Tharptown’s 21. This effectively doubled the score of both teams in only eight minutes of play.

In the end Colbert Heights would hang on for an 8-point victory.

Tharptown’s attention will soon be focused on the upcoming area tournament after their final regular seaosn game at Waterloo.

“We’ve got a shot to beat Belgreen in the area tournament,” Odom said. We’ve got a chance, but we’ve got to make shots.”

Riley Nolen led Tharptown in points with 16. Also scoring for Tharptown were: Kelby Hallmark (11 points, 6 rebounds), Will Little (3), senior Colton Blankenship (2), Blake Gray (2) Matthew Brasuell (2) and senior Patrick Tharp (1).

Tharptown Lady Wildcats 52, Colbert Heights 37. 

The Tharptown Lady Wildcats added another win to their impressive season over Colbert Heights.

Tharptown led throughout, and despite a close couple of qurters, the eventual victor was never in doubt.

Kamri Sears led Tharptown with 16 points and Kaitlyn Vandiver and Kathy Alfaro tied with 10 apiece.

Also scoring for Tharptown were: Brooke Daniel (5), Kassy Baker (3), Danielle Creasy (2) and Erica Valdez (2).

—stats kept by Jeremy Reed