The Belgreen High School varsity girls’ basketball team, ranked No. 5 in Class 2A in the latest Alabama Sports Writers Association poll, captured the Franklin County Tournament crown for the second consecutive year on Saturday night, defeating the Phil Campbell Lady Bobcats 51-28 at the Red Bay High School gymnasium.
“It’s a big accomplishment to win the county tournament,” Belgreen head coach Chad Green said. “I think Belgreen has won six or seven county titles in school history, and these girls have won back-to-back now; I think that’s only happened one other time in school history.
“I’m proud of them,” he added.
The Franklin County Tournament started last Tuesday, January 14, but the Lady Bulldogs would wait until the following Thursday to play their opening game. Belgreen was first tasked with taking on Red Bay, who knocked Tharptown out on the opening night of the tournament.
The Lady Bulldogs made quick work of Red Bay, defeating the Lady Tigers 62-18 to advance. BHS got stronger as the game went on, scoring more and more points each quarter. Belgreen’s top scorers were mainstay Isabella Tate and freshman Kiera Smith, who has just made her way into the varsity squad.
“We were led by Isabella Tate and Kiera Smith, who each had 11 points and did a great job for us,” Green said. “(Smith) came off the bench; she’s moved up after the junior high season, and she did a good job. She hit a couple of threes and actually had a four-point play. She had a couple of drives and some lay-ups. We were just proud of her—she’s a hustler.”
Green said the semifinal against Red Bay also highlighted how the team, as a whole, has improved on the defensive side of the ball.
“We thought the intensity level of that game showed how much we’ve picked up on rebounding and defensively from the first of the year until now,” he said.
“I’ve said all year long we’re better offensively than we were last year, no doubt about it. But here in the last four or five games I feel like we’ve started to play defense like we want to play. We’re holding our own on the boards and rebounding. That’s a big deal,” Green added.
The defensive effort continued in the county championship against Phil Campbell as the Lady Bulldogs surrendered just 28 points, well under the 37.5 points per game allowed by BHS this season. Belgreen, who fell to the Lady Bobcats 44-42 in overtime in the first meeting between the two teams on January 7, avenged the loss by seizing the county crown.
After a tight opening quarter, BHS led PCHS 15-12. But the Lady Bulldogs took control in the second period, outscoring the Lady Bobcats 17-3 to take a 32-15 advantage into the halftime break.
The 17-point Belgreen halftime lead proved too much for Phil Campbell to overcome in the second half. The Lady Bobcats, led by Macy Hardy’s 13 total points, edged out the Lady Bulldogs slightly in the third quarter but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Bulldogs bounced back to outpace PCHS 14-6 in the final eight minutes and win the game 51-28.
“(PCHS) beat us about a week and a half ago in overtime, and so we were definitely looking forward to seeing them again,” Green said. “We know they have a good team and have done well this year. Coach (Craig) Thomas does a good job with those girls, so we definitely knew defensive-wise and keeping them off the boards was going to be a critical part of it.
“Overall, it was a good team win,” he added. “I’ve got so much depth on the bench, and a lot of them come in and just understand their role in the team whether that’s to shoot the ball, whether that’s to defend, whether that’s to help rebound or take care of the ball. It’s always good to have a selfless-type team that the kids understand their role and are just looking to win.
“If you look at our scorebook from the last eight or nine games, I bet you we’ve had a different leading scorer every game, so that’s always nice, too.”
The leading scorer in the championship win over PCHS on Saturday was Bryn Scott, who led all scorers with 14 points. She was followed by Lilliana Willingham, who got to double digits with 10 points.
“Bryn Scott stepped up and made some big shots. And, of course, she always handles the ball and defends well,” Green said. “(Willingham) has really come on these last eight or nine games, so we’re proud to see that.”
After winning the Franklin County Tournament for the second straight year, Green added that he was thankful for his team—and not just for the players they are on the court.
“I just wanna thank the good Lord for the team I’ve got,” he said. “We all love to win, but this is a good bunch of girls. We’ve got some good Christian girls on the team, the coaching staff is good, so I’m just thankful to be part of it. It makes it enjoyable as a coach not only when you’ve got a good group of kids that work hard and win but are also good kids off the court.”
The Vina Lady Red Devils won the Franklin County junior varsity tournament, defeating Phil Campbell 38-32.
Vina, led by head coach Richie Hester, overcame a 23-16 halftime deficit to take the JV title.
The Lady Red Devils' leading scorer in the contest was sophomore Lana Bell who dropped 11 points in the second half before unfortunately coming off the court due to injury. Sophomores Makenzie Elrod and Layla Hester, also dealing with an injury, scored eight points each for Vina, while seventh-grader Cecelia Rowbottom scored six, freshman Kari Harper scored four, and eighth-grader Marissa Lamar added one point.
In defeat, Phil Campbell was led by Kylee Santiago with 10 points and Addie Gilbert with seven points.
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