By Staff
Scot Beard
PHIL CAMPBELL – When the Red Bay varsity girls basketball team opened up a 17-10 lead by the end of the first quarter, many fans thought the Lady Tigers would cruise to yet another finals game in the Franklin County Tournament, but Tharptown had other ideas.
The Lady Wildcats cut the halftime deficit to seven points and returned from the locker room on a mission.
Playing inspired basketball, Tharptown eventually took a 30-25 lead and seemed to be in solid control of the game.
Red Bay responded with a 14-0 run to regain momentum and build a comfortable cushion on its way to a 53-46 victory.
With 1:18 remaining in the game, Tharptown's Kendra Baker sank a pair of free throws to pull the Lady Wildcats within three points, but Red Bay pulled away down the stretch.
Morgan Duncan scored a game-high 21 points for Red Bay while Whitney Sharp added 14.
Also scoring for the Lady Tigers were Kirsten Sharp (6), Caitlin Childers (6), Britton Bolding (4) and Shantell Nichols (2).
Baker was the leading scorer for Tharptown with 17 points while Hollie Hines added 11 points. Also scoring for the Lady Wildcats were Laken Barnett (6), Autumn Hatton (4), Chelsea McCluskey (4), Heather Hatton (2) and Tosha George (2).