BEAR CREEK - In a game that was closer than the final score may suggest, the Belgreen Lady Bulldogs (15-14) fell short of defending their area title on Friday night, falling to the Phillips Lady Bears (23-6) by the score of 57-45.
Belgreen, who split with Phillips during the regular season, played well and kept the game close for three quarters, but the stifling and relentless Lady Bear defense was too much for the Lady Bulldogs in the end.
“Phillips does a good job switching up pressure. They run a 2-2-1 press, they run a diamond press, they get back in the half-court trap,” said Belgreen head coach Chad Green. “They’ve got athletes and they’re quick, and we made some mistakes at the end that hurt us.”
Belgreen opened up the game with the first basket. Eighth-grader Emma Dempsey, the Lady Bulldogs’ leading scorer this season, made a quick, short-range jumper in the opening minute of the game.
Unfortunately for Belgreen, the opening lead was short-lived as Phillips freshman Gracie Hallman responded on the next possession with a go-ahead three-pointer. The Lady Bulldogs would not lead in the game again.
Hallman’s three-pointer was the beginning of a 12-7 first-quarter Phillips run that gave the Lady Bears a small 12-9 advantage after the first eight minutes. The shots did not seem to want to fall for the Lady Bulldogs on the offensive end, but Belgreen’s defense and missed free throws by Phillips kept it close in the opening period.
To start the second quarter, Belgreen sophomore Camie Terrell sank a jumper from beyond the arc to tie the game at 12. The Lady Bulldogs and Lady Bears traded baskets for the next six-and-a-half minutes, but an 11-point second quarter performance by Phillips junior Julianna Taylor made the difference, as the Lady Bears took the 23-19 advantage at the halftime break.
“We took care of the ball, and we were patient on the offensive end,” said Green. “We played pretty good in the first half, and we were right there with them.”
The third quarter of the game looked much like the previous two: Phillips continued to put full-court pressure on the Lady Bulldogs, and Belgreen continued to keep it close with defense and an ability to answer a Phillips basket with their own.
Belgreen sophomore Gabbie Moore, who finished the game with seven points, scored the opening basket of the second half to cut Phillips’s lead to two points.
Phillips went on another small run soon after, but Belgreen was able to hold strong once again. Down by seven with just over two minutes left in the quarter, junior Jasmine Martin drew a shooting foul and made both free throws. After a few defensive stops, Dempsey banked in a close jump shot with one-tenth of a second to go in the third.
Heading into the final quarter, Belgreen trailed by just three points, 36-33.
“I’m telling you, this Phillips team is a good, deep-run-in-the-playoff team,” Green said. “Even with all of the pressure they were putting on us on offense, for three quarters we played good basketball.”
For 24 minutes, Belgreen was able to weather offensive droughts and push back against Phillips' fast, defensive pressure. That all changed in the final eight minutes.
Up by three to start the final period, Phillips turned up the heat on Belgreen. In the first four minutes of the quarter, the Lady Bears scored 14 unanswered points, eight coming off Belgreen turnovers. With 3:50 left in the game, Phillips had a 50-33 lead.
“We played against that pressure all game long, and we were a little worn out,” Green said. “They did a good job of turning it up in the fourth quarter, and we made some bad decisions.”
After Phillips' run, the Lady Bulldogs attempted to make a comeback. Dempsey responded with a bank shot for two, and Moore followed it up with a three-pointer 10 seconds later.
However, Phillips’s defense did not let up. The Lady Bears would only score seven more points, but Belgreen’s turnovers and inability to keep possession and make crucial shots at the end sealed their fate.
“No doubt, it’s definitely a let-down,” Green said. “You just can’t turn the ball over against them because they’ve got good athletes. You have to take care of the basketball, and we didn’t at the end.”
Dempsey led Belgreen with 17 points, while Martin finished with seven on the night. Dempsey, Martin and senior Shellie Barber were named to the Area 13 all-tournament team following the game.
Despite the tough loss, Belgreen is still alive in the AHSAA playoffs, a point of emphasis Green made in the locker room following the game.
“I just told them, you know, the season don’t end here,” he said. “You win Monday night and you move on to Hanceville, so we’ve still got everything to look forward to.”
A win in the sub-regional round will earn Belgreen a visit to Hanceville, but the Lady Bulldogs will have to go through R.A. Hubbard (16-8) to get there. Hubbard beat Covenant Christian 64-52 in Friday's Area 16 tournament final.
"You know going in that R.A. Hubbard is always going to have some great athletes," said Green, whose team lost to Hubbard in the regional semifinals last February. "I think the only common opponent we share with R.A. Hubbard is Colbert Heights. We played Colbert Heights twice this season and beat them both times. We shot the ball pretty well in those two games."
