The 2024-25 Franklin County varsity basketball tournament tipped off on Tuesday night at Red Bay High School with Red Bay and Tharptown opening the girls’ basketball bracket and Vina and Tharptown playing in the first round of the boys’ bracket.
The Red Bay Lady Tigers more than doubled up on the Tharptown Lady Wildcats, 28-13, to start the evening at the RBHS gymnasium. Red Bay, led by six points from Blake Oliver, jumped out to a 10-4 lead after the opening eight minutes and never looked like surrendering that advantage, outscoring Tharptown in every quarter.
Red Bay head coach John Torisky said getting the victory in the opening contest of the Franklin County tournament will hopefully serve as a morale booster for his young Lady Tigers squad going forward.
“For our girls it’s all about getting confidence,” Torisky said. “We’re really young. We’re basically a junior high team, so tonight was just good for them to get a win. They haven’t seen that much.
“I know we’ve got Belgreen next (in the tournament), but we’re just focusing on our area. We just want to try to play better every game, and hopefully at the end of the year steal one from Lamar County. That’s our goal,” he added.
“We’re playing harder. We’ve still got to get better offensively and do a lot of things better with the basketball, but if we can compete then we’ve got a chance against some of the teams that we play. That was our goal tonight, and I think we did a good job.”
Red Bay advances to face Belgreen, ranked No. 5 in Class 2A by the Alabama Sports Writers Association, on Thursday night.
Tuesday’s nightcap game between the Vina and Tharptown boys’ basketball teams, which featured plenty of fouls and turnovers, saw the Red Devils finish well ahead of the Wildcats. Vina jumped out to a 32-9 lead at halftime and used that big cushion to ultimately come out on top 52-35.
Although the Red Devils struggled against Tharptown’s suffocating press defense in the second half, the Wildcats had issues themselves turning Vina’s mistakes and turnovers into as many baskets as were there for the taking. Ultimately, Vina never looked like it would give up its double-digit lead and advanced fairly comfortably.
“I’m super proud of the kids,” Vina head coach Randy Barnes told the Franklin Free Press. “We prepared for this game. We’ve been preparing since last week. The county tournament’s always a big game, evidently, regardless of who you’re playing in the county, and to get a win, it’s awesome for us.
“The kids really wanted it,” he added. “What I’m most proud of is probably the fact that we’ve been practicing, practicing to execute the game plan and it clearly showed tonight (allowing) 35 points. We played (Tharptown) earlier in the year and we gave up, I think, 55 (points).
“I’m just super proud of the kids. It meant a lot to them, especially the seniors. That’s the first county win we’ve had in a few years, so, honestly, I’m just super stoked.”
Senior Christian McCarley, who hit four three-pointers, led the Red Devils with 19 total points in the win; Colton Davis and Matthew Patterson each scored 10 points.
The VHS win sets the Class 1A Red Devils up for a matchup against Red Bay, ranked No. 9 in Class 2A. The contest against the Tigers will be one of Vina’s toughest, but Barnes said his team is ready to take on the challenge.
“We’re excited for it, actually,” he said. “Red Bay is a great team, great program and I’ve got a lot of respect for John (Torisky). I watch them, I watch them on film and actually utilize some of the stuff that they do and show to my kids. They’re definitely a good program, constantly, year in and year out.
“We’re excited for the opportunity,” Barnes added. “We’re excited to see where we’re really at, you know, because we have a very tough area with Hackleburg and Marion County, both of them being ranked. I feel like Red Bay is a really good team, so it’s going to help us moving forward. Three weeks from now in the area tournament, it’s going to help us.
“There’s one thing that (the Vina players) do, regardless if we win or lose, and that’s play hard. They’re going to play hard, regardless, Thursday.”
Tip-off of the Red Bay–Vina game is scheduled for 7:30 P.M. on January 16th.
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