By Bart Moss for the FCT

Boys

Phil Campbell 70, Belgreen 59

Peyton Thomas scored a career high 35 points to help the Phil Campbell Bobcats down the Belgreen Bulldogs 70-59. Thomas hit 14-of-19 free throws in the game and, as a team, the Bobcats 13-of-19 free throws in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

“It is always a battle when Phil Campbell and Belgreen play,” said Bobcat Coach Brett Thomas. “They are a good team. Peyton had one of the best nights of his career. It came at the right time.”

Belgreen led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter, but the Bobcats went on a big run in the second and third quarter to seize the lead. Phil Campbell outscored Belgreen 22-1 in the second quarter to take a 36-27 halftime lead. The Bobcats continued their roll in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 13-9 to extend their lead to 49-36 before securing the win with good free throw shooting in the final period of play.

Following Thomas was Brody Nix, who scored 12 points, eight in the fourth quarter, and Jacob Anthony with ten points to lead Phil Campbell. Hayden Copeland (6), Thomas Baker (5) and Gage Roberson (2) also scored for Phil Campbell.

Mason Bragwell and Jacob Mayberry led Belgreen with 16 points and 15 points respectively. Adam Green added 10 points. Logan Seay finished with three points, Eli Hiser with two points and Jospeh Welch with one point.

Phil Campbell 70, Sulligent 59

The Phil Campbell Bobcats picked up a key road win on Monday night over the Sulligent Blue Devils 70-59. The win also kept the Bobcats in the hunt for the regular season area title and the right to host the Area tournament.

“This was a huge win for us,” said Thomas. “We have to win out in our Area to have a chance to host the Area tournament. This was a big step toward that goal.”

Phil Campbell led Sulligent 15-13 at the end of the third quarter. The Blue Devils vaulted ahead of the Bobcats in the second quarter 21-14 to take a 34-29 halftime advantage. Phil Campbell reclaimed the lead in the third quarter, outpacing Sulligent 20-13 to take a 49-47 lead into the fourth quarter. The Bobcats stepped up their attack in the fourth quarter, outscoring Sulligent 21-12 to get the win.

Thomas scored 18 points to lead Phil Campbell scorers. Hayden Copeland added 13 points. Thomas Baker and Jacob Anthony scored 10 points each. Joe Hardy had nine points, Rhett Benford finished with seven points, and Gage Roberson had three points.

Phil Campbell 84, Tharptown 55

The Phil Campbell Bobcats used a strong third quarter to pull away from the Tharptown Wildcats to win 84-55 last week.

Thomas Baker scored nine of his game-high 14 points in the first quarter to help the Bobcats to an early 18-10 lead over the Wildcats. In the second quarter it was Peyton Thomas dropping nine of his game high 13 points to help Phil Campbell extend their lead to 40-22 at halftime. The Bobcats had a balanced attack in the third quarter outscoring Tharptown 26-10 to take a 66-42 lead into the final period of play.

Jacob Anthony led Phil Campbell with 20 points, followed by Thomas with 14 and Baker with 13 points. Gage Roberson hit four three-pointers to account for 12 points in the game. Joe Hardy added nine points, Rhett Benford, who has been hobbled with a minor injury, had seven points, Hayden Copeland finished with four points, Daniel Uptain three points, and Brody Nix two points.

Mikey Rosson and Levi McCormack led Tharptown with 13 points and 12 points respectively. Carson Petree finished with nine points, Winston Nolen six points, Alex Argueta four points, Matt Hall, Misael Saldana and Dakota Nolen had three points each, and Joel Mojica and Cole Daniel each scored a point.

Tharptown 70, Vina 32

The Tharptown Wildcats wasted no time putting away Friday night’s game with Vina, winning 70-32.

Tharptown ran away from Vina 21-12 in the first quarter and led 42-19 at halftime. The Wildcats extended their lead even further in the third quarter to 67-28 before coasting to the win.

Levi McCormack and Mikey Rosson led Tharptown with 16 points and 14 points respectively. Cole Daniel added nine points, Matt Hall eight points, Alex Argueta six points, T.J. McDonald and Joel Mojica had four points each, and Carson Petree, Misael Saldana and Braden Key had three points each.

Clay Allison led Vina with 11 points. Tyler Renfrow added seven points, Austin Harper six points, Blake Hardin and Timothy Sexton had four points each, and Andrew Upton one point.

Belgreen 76, Vina 19

The Belgreen Bulldogs had a dominating performance against the Vina Red Devils, winning 76-19.

Belgreen raced out to a 23-10 first quarter lead and extended the lead to 46-17 by halftime. The Bulldogs allowed only two Vina points in the second half and scored 30 en route to the win.

Mason Bragwell led Belgreen with 24 points. Grayson Moore added ten points. Eli Hiser and Jospeh Welch had eight points each. Adam Green and Seth Taylor finished with six points each. Logan Seah contributed five points. Brant Bragwell and Jacob Mayberry had four points each. Payton Scott had two points.

Clay Allison led Vina with eight points. Andrew Upton had three points. Tyler Renfrow, Austin Harper, and Corbin Triplett had two points each.

Photo by Bart Moss
The Red Bay boys fell to Hatton Monday, 55-49.

Hatton 55, Red Bay 49

The Red Bay Tigers couldn’t overcome a sluggish third quarter losing to the Hatton Hornets Monday night 55-49.

Both teams were knotted up at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. Hatton gained a two-point advantage by halftime 19-17. The third quarter would prove to be the Tigers’ undoing, getting outscored 17-7 by the Hornets giving Hatton a36-24 lead going into the fourth quarter. Red Bay made a strong comeback in the fourth quarter outscoring Hatton 25-19 but it was not enough.

Gath Weatherford led Hatton with 16 points. Levi McNatt and Colton Corum scored seven points each. Peyton Green and Ethan Pierce scored six points each. Aeron Moore had three points. Noah Brewer and Hunter Bays had two points each.

Girls

Tharptown 70, Vina 69 (OT)

The Tharptown Wildcats picked up a big win Friday night against area rival and county rival Vina 70-69 in overtime. Vina took the loss despite a career night for junior guard Abby Hester, who scored 44 points. It capped off a rough week for the eighth-ranked Vina Red Devils, who sustained their third loss in a row.

“We played really well and as a team tonight,” said Tharptown Coach Marc Tracey. “It was an outstanding effort by the entire team. We showed a lot of grit and desire, which is something we’ve been lacking lately. I am so proud of them.”

“We played really well on the boards with a lot of girls getting in on the rebounding action,” said Tracey.

Linda Bahena had a triple double for Tharptown with 12 points, 11 assists and ten rebounds to help lead the Wildcats to victory. Without point guard and leading scorer Jessica Wilson in the line-up due to injury, Bahena stepped into the leadership role.

“Linda stepped up as a leader tonight,” said Tracey. “She showed a lot of heart and leadership skills. We needed her to do it.

The game was knotted at 11-11 at the end of the first quarter. Vina took a 27-26 lead at halftime. Tharptown gained the lead at the end of the third quarter 42-41. Vina outscored Tharptown by one in the fourth quarter 18-17 to end regulation all tied up at 59-59. The Wildcats outscored the Red Devils 11-10 in overtime to get the win.

Brooke Daily led Tharptown with 21 points and nine rebounds. Daily had ten of her 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, playing big for the Wildcats down the stretch. Aly Vandiver had 12 points and a hit a big three-point shot in overtime. Amelia Dawson had 12 points and seven rebounds. Cate Dawson and Klaudia Harris had four points each. Adrianna Borden and Kaylee Bain had two points each. Borden also had nine rebounds. Annslee Bottoms added one point in the overtime win.

Hester hit 19-of-20 free throws and six three pointers to net the 44 points and lead the Red Devils. Emma Humphres had eight points, Sarah Johnson had seven points, Kaitlyn King four points, Maudie Raper three points, Abbie Petree and Kayla Thompson had two points each.

Belgreen 62, Vina 52

The Belgreen Bulldogs used a full court pressure defense and 26-point performance by Emma Dempsey inside to score a big area win last week over their county rival the Vina Red Devils 62-52. It was eighth-ranked Vina’s second area loss in a row.

Belgreen led Vina by two at the end of the first quarter 11-9. Vina outscored Belgreen 20-15 in the second quarter to take 29-26 lead into the locker room at halftime. Belgreen chipped away at Vina’s lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Red Devils 17-15 to make the score 44-43 Vina going into the final period of play. The Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring Vina 19-8 to get the win.

“We played well tonight,” said Belgreen Coach Chad Green. “We played some full court pressure defense. We gave up a lot of fouls, but it disrupted their game. Vina spread the floor on us on defense, which allowed Emma to have a big night inside.”

Demspey hit 16-of-24 free throws to contribute to her 26-point scoring output. Jasmine Martin added 12 points. Katie Dempsey and Cammie Terrell had eight points each. Brianna Wood finished with six points, and Shellie Barber had two points.

Abby Hester led Vina with 34 points. She hit 16-of-23 free throws in the game. Kaitlyn King scored seven points. Sarah Johnson, Gracie Raper and Emma Humphres had four points each.

Red Bay 57, Hatton 43

The Red Bay Tigers held a slim lead at halftime, but by the end of the third quarter, the game was effectively over with the Tigers taking a 57-43 win.

Red Bay led Hatton 10-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers increased their advantage to 23-18 at halftime. Red Bay used a stiff half court pressure defense in the third quarter to pull away outscoring Hatton 24-10 to take a 47-28 lead into the fourth quarter. The Tigers would lead by as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter.

Allie Kennedy led Red Bay with 25 points. Darby Madden followed with 21 points. Reagan Kuykendall six points, Carlie Lindley had four points, and Brooke Shewbart one point.

Red Bay 54, Lamar County 32

The Red Bay Tigers jumped out to a big first half lead over the Lamar County Bulldogs and coasted to a 54-32 area win.

Red Bay led Lamar County 20-6 at the end of the first quarter and extended their lead to 32-11 by halftime. The Tigers outscored Lamar County 11-5 in the third quarter to make the score 43-16 going into the fourth quarter.

Allie Kennedy led Red Bay with 19 points. Darby Madden followed with 15 points. Reagan Kuykendall had nine points, and Morgan Pierce had three points. Mallori Miller, Savannah Shaw, Kaylie Markham and Autumn Higginbottom had two points each.

Phil Campbell 55, Tharptown 41

The Phil Campbell Bobcats jumped out to an early lead on the Tharptown Wildcats and hung on for the 55-41 win.

Phil Campbell raced out to a 23-6 first quarter lead. Tharptown, which was without leading scorer Jessica Wilson, outscored the Bobcats in the remaining three quarters, but it wouldn’t be enough. Tharptown outscored Phil Campbell 12-10 in the second quarter to make the score 33-18 at halftime. The Bobcats got those two points back in the third quarter, outscoring Tharptown 10-8 to give Phil Campbell a 43-26 third quarter advantage. The Wildcats would outscore the Bobcats 15-12 in the fourth quarter, but the Bobcats got the win.

Abby Davis led Phil Campbell with 12 points. Darby and Dakota Elliott scored nine points each. Megan Bullock had eight points, Chloe Roberson finished with seven points, and Anna Gunderman had four points. Anna Benford, Bethany Harris and Macy Farley scored two points each.

Aly Vandiver led Tharptown with ten points. Adrianna Borden had eight points, Anslee Bottoms finished with six points, Linda Bahena five points, Ameliah and Catie Dawson scored four points each, Klaudia Harris had three points, and Kaylee Bain finished with one point.

Phil Campbell 56, Belgreen 27

The Phil Campbell Bobcats defense stymied the Belgreen Bulldogs, as they defeated their county rival 56-27 Friday night.

Phil Campbell outscored Belgreen 12-6 in the first quarter and extended their lead to 33-12 by halftime. The Bobcats outpaced the Bulldogs 17-12 in the third quarter to make the lead 50-24 and coasted to the win in the fourth period.

Abby Davis led Phil Campbell with 17 points and six blocked shots. Darby Elliott had 14 points and eight steals. Carley Nix added 12 points. Bethany Harris chipped in seven points, Chloe Roberson four points, and Macy Farley two points.

Belgreen didn’t have players reach double figures in the game, but multiple players got in on the scoring. Brianna Wood, Katie Dempsey and Jasmine Martin had four points each. Gabbie Moore, Emma Willingham, Shellie Barber, and Camie Terrell had three points each. Megan Smith added two points, and Autumn Bragwell had one point.

Layfayette (Miss.) 44, Red Bay 37

The Red Bay Tigers fell to one of the top teams in the state of Mississippi Saturday 44-37.

Red Bay led Layfayette 11-5 at the end of the first quarter, but Layfayette stormed ahead of the Tigers in the second quarter to take a 22-13 halftime lead. Red Bay would never be able to recover. The Tigers trailed 29-19 at the end of the third quarter and outscored Layfayette 18-15 in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough.

Allie Kennedy led Red Bay with 20 points. Darby Madden followed with 13 points. Carlee Humphrees and Carlie Lindley added two points each.

Sulligent 62, Phil Campbell 61

The Phil Campbell Bobcats lost to the Sulligent Blue Devils in heartbreaking fashion Monday night. The Blue Devils sank a shot at the buzzer to defeat Phil Campbell 62-61 in critical area matchup.

Phil Campbell led Sulligent 14-12 at the end of the first quarter. The Blue Devils cut the Bobcats’ lead to one at halftime 26-26. Sulligent tied the game at 43-43 by the end of the fourth quarter. Both teams battled down the stretch before the Blue Devils game-winning shot crushed the Bobcats chances of escaping Sulligent with an area win.

Abby Davis led Phil Campbell with 26 points and seven blocked shots. Darby Elliott followed with 14 points and five steals. Carley Nix added seven points, Chloe Roberson had six points, Bethany Harris had four points, and Dakota Elliott and Megan Bullock scored two points each.