Red Bay rode a huge first half from Clay Allison and a solid performance at the foul line on Tuesday night to a 57-48 win over Lamar County in the first round of the Class 2A, Area 14 tournament at Sulligent High School.
Allison, a sophomore guard, hit two threes in the first quarter and two more in the second, scoring 18 first-half points to help the Tigers (17-11) take a 29-24 lead into the locker room. Lamar County guard Mark Duncan scored all 16 of his points in the second half, but Red Bay shot 12-for-17 from the foul line after the break (including 9-for-12 in the fourth quarter) to hold on for the win and earn a date with top-seeded Sulligent in Friday’s area final.
Allison hit a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter and finished with 20 points, one off his season-high. Freshman Braden Ray shot 4-for-5 from the foul line and scored 11 points, eight of which came in the fourth quarter. Junior Gath Weatherford added 10 points, hitting two threes and going 4-for-6 from the line.
Colton Corum made a pair of third-quarter threes and finished with eight points, and Hunter Bays went 3-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to finish with five. Peyton Green added three points. The Tigers hit nine threes as a team and finished 14-for-20 at the line.
Red Bay split with Sulligent during the regular season, with each team winning at home. The winner of Friday’s area title game will host a sub-regional game next Tuesday, while the loser will travel.
In other action at the Class 2A, Area 14 tournament:
Sulligent 47 Phil Campbell 39
The fourth-seeded Bobcats flirted with an upset on Tuesday night, leading top-seeded Sulligent by six at halftime and by one at the end of three quarters, but the Blue Devils made enough of their 17 free throw attempts in the fourth to survive and advance.
Sulligent came out hot, hitting three threes in the first quarter, but Phil Campbell (9-14) got a three from Joe Hardy and four points apiece from Daniel Smith and Brody Nix to stay even at 13-13 at the end of one. Peyton Thomas put up seven points in the second quarter, helping the Bobcats out-score the Blue Devils 14-8 to take a 27-21 lead into the locker room.
Both teams labored offensively in the third quarter, but three-pointers from Turner Lamoruex and Garrett Cranford helped Sulligent out-score Phil Campbell 9-4 to get within one at 31-30. The Blue Devils then went 8-for-17 from the foul line in the fourth, out-scoring the Bobcats 17-8 to avoid the upset and earn a date with Red Bay in Friday’s area final.
Deshaun Sullivan shot 6-for-10 from the line in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points for Sulligent. Cranford hit three threes on the night and finished with 10 points.
Smith went 3-for-3 at the line and led Phil Campbell with 13 points. Thomas added 12, and Nix scored six. Hardy finished with five points, and Nate Owens hit a three. The Bobcats made four threes as a team and shot 5-for-8 from the foul line.
Sulligent hit six threes and finished 9-for-19 at the line.