By Bart Moss for the FCT

The 2016 Junior High Franklin County Tournament came to a close Thursday night at Phil Campbell High School. Red Bay took two of the championship games, and Belgreen took two.

B-Junior Girls – Belgreen 36, Tharptown 28

The Belgreen Bulldogs jumped out to a big first quarter lead and held on to capture the B-Junior Girls championship in the Franklin County Tournament.

Belgreen led Tharptown 17-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs extended their lead to 25-11 by halftime. Tharptown cut Belgreen’s lead to 29-16 by the end of the third quarter and had cut the lead to as few as six points in the fourth quarter.

Emma Dempsey and Autumn Bragwell led Belgreen with 10 points each. Emmie Scott added seven points, Bailey Oliver had six points, and Bailey Wood netted three points for the Bulldogs.

Brooke Daily led Tharptown with 12 points. Annslee Bottoms followed with six points, Aly Vandiver had five points, Adrianna Borden finished with three points, and Jaelyn Johnson contributed two points for the Wildcats.

B-Junior Boys – Red Bay 36, Tharptown 30

The Red Bay Tigers and the Tharptown Wildcats battled each other down to the wire for the B-Junior Boys Franklin County Championship.

Red Bay jumped out to a 12-7 first quarter lead. The Wildcats clawed their way back, cutting the Tigers’ lead to 19-16 at halftime and 22-20 by the end of the third quarter. Red Bay was able to hang on and get the win.

Alex Kennedy led Red Bay with 14 points. Jalen Vinson and Lane Shewbart scored six points each. Gage Bays and Hunter Burks scored four points each. Cam McKinney finished with two points for the Tigers.

Edward Lopez led Tharptown with ten points. Ruben Alfaro and Winston Nolen scored eight points each.  Hayden Moss and Britton Kennemore finished with two points each for the Wildcats.

A-Junior Girls – Belgreen 37, Red Bay 32

In a game that was in doubt much of the way, the Belgreen Bulldogs were able to pull away from the Red Bay Tigers in the fourth quarter of the A-Junior Girls Franklin County championship game to capture the title.

Belgreen led 8-5 at the end of the first quarter, but Red Bay battled back in the second quarter to take a 14-11 halftime lead. The Tigers extended their lead to 23-19 by the end of third quarter. Belgreen mounted a huge comeback in the fourth quarter, outscoring Red Bay 18-9, to take the win and the championship.

Katie Dempsey led Belgreen with 13 points. Gracie Dempsey followed with seven points, Emma Willingham had six points, Kaycee Wilson and Krista Sikes had four points each, Ansley Tate added two points, and Camie Terell finished with one point for the Bulldogs.

Reagan Kuykendall led Red Bay with 10 points. Mallori Miller followed with eight points, Sara Williams had six points, Cailyn Leath had four points, and Destiny Deaten and Kaylee Markham had two points each for the Tigers.

A Junior Boys – Red Bay 43, Tharptown 17

The Red Bay Tigers outscored the Tharptown Wildcats by significant margins in three of the four quarters of the A-Junior Boys Franklin County championship game.

Red Bay led Tharptown 12-2 at the end of the first quarter and 25-6 at halftime in route to a championship.

Kaleb Bragwell led Red Bay with 12 points. Ethan Pierce followed with 11 points, Arden Hamilton had 10 points, Brennan Harbor had six points, and Tanner Hamilton had two points for the Tigers.

Carson Petree led Tharptown with five points. Les Montgomery, Chris Amos and Triston Hampton scored four points each for the Wildcats.