By Keith Ledbetter

For the FCT

Red Bay’s varsity boys came away with a split at their tip off tournament this past Saturday.

The Tigers lost their opening game with Covenant Christian High School 66-65, but came back with a Saturday afternoon 59-49 win over Waterloo.

Since it was Red Bay’s first game of the season and the fifth for the Eagles, the Tigers were playing with a slight disadvantage in game one.

“We turned it over a little bit too much late in the ball game,” Tiger head basketball coach Matt Noah said.

“For our first ballgame I was pleased, but it was a game we should have won.”

Isaiah Jackson, who led Red Bay with a game total of 24 points against Covenant Christian, hit four treys in the first. Nick Thorn also had one three-pointer to help extend the Tigers’ lead to 17-12 going into the second quarter.

The Eagles tied the game on foul shots midway through the second and then went on a 5-2 run to take a 27-24 lead at halftime.

Along with a trey and two two-point baskets, Red Bay’s Jackson tossed in another three pointer at the buzzer to tie the game at 45-45 at the end of the third.

With just over three minutes remaining in the game, Covenant Christian extended their lead on a six point unanswered run to take a 60-53 advantage over the Tigers.

Hampered by turnovers, Red Bay was able to only add a couple of free throws in the final minutes.

Isaiah Jackson led Red Bay with 24 points, Jesus Kelly had 12, Dylan Gresham and Buddy Kuykendall had five each, Nick Thorn scored four, Austin Milam had three, and Daniel Wooten scored two.

In game two, Red Bay led 40-26 at halftime over Waterloo but only scored eight points in the third to take a 48-31 lead going into the final quarter.

The Cougars closed the 17-point gap to only nine with just over five minutes remaining in the game, but Dylan Grissom’s two-pointer and two free throws by Tate Ozbirn and Buddy Kuykendall extended the Tigers’ lead back to 53-42.

Jesus Kelly completed a three-point play and Ozbirn connected on a two-point basket to stretch Red Bay’s lead to 58-46 near the two minute mark.

“It was a great effort all day, but it’s tough playing two basketball games in one day,” Noah said.

“We’ve just got to get better defensively and have better defensive rotations on penetrations. We have to take better care of the basketball.”.

The Red Bay boys will host Hatton on Dec. 2 for the opening game of the regular season for the Tigers.