The new schedule for the 2018 Franklin County Tournament includes six semifinal games on Saturday and three championship games on Monday night.
The tournament was originally scheduled to tip off on Tuesday, but winter weather forced the postponement of those games to Thursday night (tonight). Classes were cancelled again today for Franklin County Schools, which forced another postponement of tournament play.
The county tournament is now set to tip off Friday and will be played according to the following schedule [all games will be played at Belgreen High School]:
Friday, January 19
5 p.m. – Varsity Girls – Tharptown vs. Red Bay
6:30 p.m. – Varsity Boys – Vina vs. Phil Campbell
Saturday, January 20
12 p.m. – B-Team Boys – Red Bay vs. Phil Campbell
1:30 p.m. – B-Team Boys – Belgreen vs. Tharptown
3 p.m. – Varsity Girls – Phil Campbell vs. Tharptown/Red Bay winner
4:30 p.m. – Varsity Boys – Red Bay vs. Tharptown
6 p.m. – Varsity Girls – Vina vs. Belgreen
7:30 p.m. – Varsity Boys – Belgreen vs. Vina/Phil Campbell winner
Monday, January 22
5 p.m. – B-Team Boys championship
6:30 p.m. – Varsity Girls championship
8 p.m. – Varsity Boys championship
Phil Campbell (14-5) is the No. 1 seed in the varsity girls bracket. The Lady Bobcats, who are 5-0 this season against county competition with an average margin of victory of 30.2 points per game, are heavy favorites to win their first county title in at least 20 years.
The marquee matchup on Saturday in the varsity girls bracket will be the semifinal game between second-seeded Vina (20-5) and third-seeded Belgreen (13-7). Each team has won on the other’s home floor this season, with the Lady Bulldogs winning 81-60 at Vina in early December and the Lady Red Devils returning the favor last week with a 56-55 win at Belgreen.
The varsity boys bracket appears to be up for grabs. Belgreen (15-5) is the No. 1 seed, but the Bulldogs are by no means a lock to repeat as county champs. Just last week they lost 61-58 to Phil Campbell and 58-50 to Tharptown, and back in November they trailed Red Bay by double-digits midway through the fourth quarter before rallying for a 56-53 win.
Both boys semifinals on Saturday should be interesting. Second-seeded Red Bay (12-7) beat Tharptown by 10 back around Thanksgiving, but the third-seeded Wildcats (9-8) might be the hottest team in the field. They’ve won three straight games, knocking off Belgreen last Saturday and then scoring 101 points in a rout of Vina on Monday.
The other boys semifinal will likely feature fifth-seeded Phil Campbell (5-10) against top-seeded Belgreen. The Bobcats were just 2-8 after losing at home to the Bulldogs in mid-December, but they’ve won three of their last five games—including that 61-58 victory at Belgreen last Thursday night.