By Bart Moss for the FCT
A big night by Nate Owens led the Phil Campbell Bobcats to a Franklin County championship Saturday evening. Owens scored 16 points in the Bobcats’ 50-31 win over the Tharptown Wildcats.

The game was tight for two and a half quarters before Phil Campbell pulled away late in the third quarter. Tharptown led Phil Campbell 12-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Bobcats mounted a comeback in the second quarter, outscoring Tharptown 11-8 to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 20-19 by halftime. Phil Campbell took the lead and then some in the third quarter, outscoring Tharptown 19-8 to take a 38-28 lead into the fourth quarter. The Bobcats were able to keep the shots falling while limiting Tharptown in the fourth quarter. Phil Campbell outscored Tharptown 12-3 in the fourth to get the win and the championship.

Others getting in on the scoring action for Phil Campbell were Cody Cotham with seven points; Cole Motes, Logan Hill and Seth Baker with five points each; and Daniel Smith, Dakota Mansel and Jason Mansel with four points each.

Semifinals

Tharptown 44, Belgreen 42

The Tharptown Wildcats held off a big fourth quarter comeback by the Belgreen Bulldogs to advance to the finals of the Franklin County Tournament by a score of 44-42.

Belgreen led Tharptown 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats blew past the Bulldogs in the second quarter 18-6 to make the score 29-18. Both teams played even in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Belgreen outscored Tharptown 18-9 but fell just short as the Wildcats advanced on to the finals.

Tharptown was led by their big post players Edward Lopez and Chris Amos, who scored 14 points and 13 points respectively. Luis Macias added nine points, Colton Malone had seven points, Ruben Alfaro had two points, and Tristan Brasuel had one point.

Ashlee Briton led Belgreen with 13 points. He was followed by Caleb Pinkard with 12 points and Taylor Welch with 11 points. Gavin Taylor had six points, and David Plott had two points.