PHIL CAMPBELL —Phil Campbell varsity boys head coach Will Copeland looked to increase the difficulty of the Bobcats’ schedule this season, and one of the teams he added was the Hamilton Aggies, a 3A school.

Phil Campbell ended up splitting with their larger opponent. The boys varsity won 47-43 in a tight game, but the Lady Bobcats fell in another close contest 44-35.

“We knew they would screen us and try to pick us apart,” Copeland said. “We switched defenses on them and they missed some shots. We still can’t get rebounds, but I’m proud of them. They stuck with it and made some stops when they had to.”

The varsity boys’ contest was close from the opening tip.

There were two lead changes in the opening quarter, which ended with the Bobcats up 14-11.

The second quarter stayed neck and neck until halftime. Phil Campbell and Hamilton never swapped leads, but the game was tied three times in the eight minutes before intermission

The teams were knotted at 25-25 when halftime came, and the match was far from over.

Hamilton once again gained the lead at the beginning of the third, but Phil Campbell went on a 12-4 run afterwards to take a 39-32 advantage by the end of the third.

The Bobcats would keep the lead throughout the fourth quarter, but the Aggies were never more than nine points down, and Hamilton came within a field goal of the lead midway through the final quarter.

Junior Colton Vickery had 12 points and five rebounds for Phil Campbell on the night, but what might have been the biggest impact was a slam dunk he put in early in the fourth.

The Bobcats were able to ride the momentum to the finish and pick up the four-point victory.

Skeeter Benford also had 12 points for Phil Campbell on the night while adding four rebounds of his own.

Also scoring for the Bobcats were: Cameron Harris (8), Jacob Ayers (6), Austin Jones (3), Jamie Dorroh (2), Hayden Bell (2) and Brady Whitten (2).

Things did not go quite so well for the Lady Bobcats on the night.

Their game featured three lead changes in the first quarter, but Phil Campbell would play from behind from that point on.

Hamilton had a 21-11 advantage at halftime and extended the lead to 35-23 by the end of the third.

Phil Campbell never could overcome the deficit, and the Lady Aggies left with a nine point win.

“We couldn’t hit shots tonight and we couldn’t rebound, and if you can’t do that you won’t win,” Phil Campbell head coach Darit Riddle said. “We’ve got to do a better job of boxing out.” he said.

Hope Cook led the Lady Bobcats with 23 points in the game with 9 rebounds. Tori Pace had 5 points and 11 rebounds, Madison Hardy came away with 4 points and Autumn Thomas totaled 3.

— stats kept by Jeremy Reed