Phil Campbell basketball teams eliminate Sheffield, fall to Mars Hill in Class 3A Area 15 tournament

The Phil Campbell High School varsity girls’ and boys’ basketball teams were defeated in a Class 3A Area 15 tournament championship doubleheader at Mars Hill Tuesday night. The Lady Bobcats fell to host Mars Hill 71-39, while the PCHS boys dropped their game against the Panthers by a final score of 69-31. The losses mean the two Bobcat squads will travel for their respective sub-region games over the weekend.

To reach the championship round of the area tournament, both Phil Campbell teams needed to eliminate Sheffield in the semifinals, which they did on February 6 and 7; the Lady Bobcats dispatched SHS 44-32 on Friday and the Phil Campbell boys collared the Bulldogs by an eight-point margin, 54-46, the next day.

The Phil Campbell girls slowly chipped away in their win over Sheffield on February 6. It was a tie ball game after the opening period, but the Lady Bobcats were able to create a three-point gap by halftime, increase it to seven by the end of the third quarter and ultimately come away with a 12-point victory. The result officially gave PCHS the season sweep over Sheffield.

Senior Leela Baker led the Lady Bobcats with 21 points, and Bailey Jewell and Layla Baker added 10 points.

In the boys’ semifinal contest on February 7, the three-seed Phil Campbell, who split with Sheffield in the regular season, used a blistering start to take down the second-seeded Bulldogs and advance.

PCHS went on a 9-0 run to start the game and pushed its lead to 12 points before going into halftime up 29-20. Roundabout the nine-point margin is where the game stayed for most of the third quarter, as well, but Sheffield managed to pull back within two shots—six points—before the end of the third period to set up a potentially compelling final eight minutes.

However, once the Bobcats had the lead, they weren’t keen on relinquishing it; Phil Campbell never trailed in the game and the closest Sheffield got to them in the fourth quarter was five points.

Junior Hayston Scott finished with a team-high 16 points for the Bobcats. Scott propelled PCHS to its hot start, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the first period. Fellow junior Austin Elliott also hit double figures with 14 points.

Then it was on to the area finals for the Bobcats.

Tipping off first on championship night in Florence Tuesday were the PCHS and MHBS girls. The Lady Panthers, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, got off to a fast start, outscoring the Lady Bobcats 23-8 in the opening period. Phil Campbell responded with a better performance in the second quarter but were still outpaced 16-15 and went into halftime down 39-23.

The second half went much the same way as the first and the Lady Bobcats were unable to claw back into the game.

In the ensuing boys’ matchup between the two teams, things played out similarly to the girls’ contest. Mars Hill jumped out to a big first half lead and rode it to victory in the second. At halftime, the Bobcats trailed 36-9; by the final buzzer the deficit was 38 points.

Up next for both Phil Campbell squads are road sub-region games at Lauderdale County on Friday, February 13. These will be tough contests for Phil Campbell as the Lauderdale County girls’ and boys’ teams are both ranked in the top 10 in Class 3A. Tip-off for the girls’ game is set for 6 p.m. and the boys’ game will follow at 7:30 p.m.