RBS teams advance through District 7A tournament
Both Red Boiling Springs boys and girls basketball teams played in the district tournament this past week. Both will be moving on.
In the opening game the Lady Bulldogs had a hard fought victory over the Lady Tigerettes of Gordonsville who put up a great effort in the first half trailing only 25-21 at the break. The Lady Bulldogs turned to Bre Thompson and Claire Fleming who scored eight points each and Kennedy Marshall who came off the bench to score six first half points.
The Lady Bulldogs decided to play a man-to-man defense to start the second half and the shots that Gordonsville were getting in the first half did not exist in the third quarter. The home team scored 13 points while holding the Lady Tigerettes to only four points and a 42-29 score favored Red Boiling Springs going to the fourth quarter. Lady Bulldog Chloe Powell came alive making three shots from beyond the arc and the stat sheet shows she had 13 points for the game.
Now we turn to Bailey Massengille and the Lady Bulldog made four baskets driving to the rim and she wound up with 15 big points including a nice three pointer just before Coach Allen took her out of the game. The Lady Bulldogs won going away 63-42. Claire Fleming had 15 points and now stands 61 points shy of 2000.Claire has at least three games left in the post season.
The boys game against Clarkrange figured to be very close and that is just what Bulldog head coach Andrew Mullinix predicated the day before the game. The Bulldog offense is triggered around the big three of Colton Copas, Chris Hackney, and the big guy in the middle Aubrey Link.
This game was close as Clarkrange led at the break 31-29 and the Bulldogs led after three quarters 43-38. Clarkrange got hot in the 4th quarter and with 4:26 showing on the game clock the Buffaloes led 52-49. The visiting crowd was happy at this point and very much in the game. Colton Copas scored two big baskets as did Aubrey Link and Birdwell and Thompson both made layups to put this game on ice. Clarkrange scored seven quick points at the end of the game but the Bulldogs won 61-58. Now the Bulldogs face Clay County on Friday night in second round action.
Copas scored 21 points while Chris Hackney came out of his shooting slump to score 16 points and Aubrey Link scored eight points and had 12 rebounds. Riley Thompson scored 10 points and he had six steals plus Joe Birdwell had 5 points. Brenton Powell scored 1 point.
In the girls semi-final game it was overcrowded, with two radio stations, one television crew, and one newspaper to cover this game. What a night the fans were treated to as Clay County defeated the Red Boiling Springs Lady Bulldogs by a final score of 51-47.
The Lady Bulldogs trailed 19-12 after the first quarter and Clay County led at halftime 30-25. Lady Bulldog Claire Fleming had 14 first half points to lead all scorers while Bailey Massengille chipped in with six points. Bre Thompson had six first half rebounds but failed to score any points. Chloe Powell had two points and Josie Green had one point. Kennedy Marshall came in off the bench to score two points.
The fans from both schools were loud as both teams were playing great defense and turnovers were mounting up as a result of the man-to-man defense. The Lady Bulldogs out scored Clay County 12-5 in the third quarter and a 37-35 lead going to the fourth quarter favored Red Boiling Springs. Bre Thompson had four third quarter points to lead the Lady Bulldogs.
Clay County came alive in the fourth quarter scoring 16 points and the Lady Bulldogs could not find many open shots, The Lady Bulldogs went 3:43 without scoring any points and Clay County hung on to win 51-47. The fans gave both teams a standing ovation which was well deserved. Clay County advances on to Monday night finals to play Pickett County. The Lady Bulldogs will play Trousdale County in the first round of the regional if chalk holds up in district 8A.
Total scoring for the Lady Bulldogs was: Fleming 24 points, Massengille 11 points, Marshall 5 points, Thompson 4 points, Powell 2 points, and Green 1 point.
The Red Boiling Springs Bulldogs victory over Clarkrange in the first round of the district 7A tournament put them up against number one seed Clay County in the semi-finals. Clay County won their two games over the Bulldogs during the regular season but the Bulldogs gave them all they wanted and more.
The Bulldogs got off to a terrible start scoring only five first quarter points and trailed 13-5 going into the second quarter. The Bulldogs played much better in the second quarter and trailed 23-17 at the break. Bulldog Colton Copas scored eight first half points while Aubrey Link had four points to lead the scoring attack for Red Boiling Springs.
The Bulldogs gave their fans something to cheer about by making three shots from long distance but only trailed 33-26 going into the fourth quarter. Clay County busted out for 21 fourth quarter points and the Bulldogs could not keep up to keep the game close. Clay won going away 54-41 and Clay is headed to the championship game Feb. 21st. The Bulldogs will play Gordonsville Tuesday night at 6 pm in Jackson County. We need the Bulldog crowd to show up.
