Belgreen, Russellville girls advance to Sweet 16
The Belgreen High School and Russellville High School varsity girls’ basketball teams advanced to the AHSAA Northwest Regional tournament over the weekend, winning their respective sub-region games to punch their tickets. It will be the Lady Bulldogs’ seventh trip to the regional since 2016; meanwhile, the Lady Golden Tigers’ victory marked the first time RHS has clinched a regional berth since 2010.
In Belgeen’s sub-region contest against Lexington, the hosts didn’t play around. BHS outscored the Lady Bears 21-5 in the opening period of play and bumped that advantage to 20 points by halftime. Coming out of the break, Belgreen outpaced Lexington 23-5 in the third quarter to put LHS in a 38-point hole. With a running clock in the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs cruised to a 34-point, 69-35 victory.
“At the beginning of the year I thought we did a good job of finishing strong, but we had trouble starting well. The last two games—the area championship against Covenant Christian and the sub-regional against Lexington—we’ve started well and that’s been a good thing for us,” Belgreen head coach Chad Green said.
Three Lady Bulldogs hit double figures in scoring. Sophomore Randi Terry led Belgreen with 19 points in the win. Senior MaKenna Fisher dropped 11 points and junior Lilliana Willingham added 10 points.
Belgreen, reaching the Northwest Regional for the third straight year, is set to face the champion of Area 10, Sulligent, in the Class 2A regional semifinal. Green said the Lady Bulldogs will have to be at their best to advance to the regional championship game, one goal this veteran group of players is keen to accomplish.
“To win we’ve definitely got to take care of the ball. (Sulligent) likes to pressure half-court and full-court. We’ve definitely got to rebound and get back in transition because they have some athletes, some fast players that can push the ball down the court,” Green said.
“This is a decorated group of players. A lot of them have been with me for a long time, since they were in the seventh or eighth grade. They’ve won six straight area championship, three straight county championships, and now they’re going to the regional for the third straight year,” Green added about his experienced squad, especially the seniors. “But I don’t think they’re satisfied with that. They’re hungry. They want to win and they want to keep advancing deeper.”
Tip-off for the game is set for 3 p.m. on Tuesday at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville.
While Belgreen’s sub-region win continued a streak, Russellville’s win over No. 10-ranked Sardis ended a sub-region losing streak and started a winning one. For the first time in 16 years, the Lady Golden Tigers will make a regional tournament appearance—and it’s thanks to an impressive road performance against the Lady Lions last Friday.
Russellville, trailing by nine points after the opening period, tied the game up at halftime and then went on in the second half to win by 10 points, 72-62.
“This group is very resilient,” RHS head coach Jermaine Groce said. “At one point in time (in the game) it was 18-3 on the road against a top 10 team. They could’ve packed it up but the girls continued to battle, kept running and kept pushing the tempo.
“Sardis had a great atmosphere. Their fans were really engaged, so it probably took us the first quarter to calm down and relax, but once the game got to our pace, a more fast-paced game, we felt pretty comfortable the rest of the way,” Groce added.
Four Lady Golden Tigers hit double figures in the win. Junior Ella Copeland led the way for RHS with 26 points, sophomores Angeleah Smith and Blevyn Sappington both scored 14 points, and senior Laila Hill dropped 10 points.
Now its on to the Class 5A Northwest Regional in Hanceville, a tournament only one other Lady Golden Tiger squad has reached in the last two decades. When RHS last made the regional in 2010, it advanced to the regional final before falling to Fairfield 46-45.
Groce said this team’s hard work and the dedication needed to reach this moment will be remembered for years to come.
“The commitment and the demands placed on them, a lot of it goes unnoticed,” Groce said. “They have the discipline and the wherewithal to compete and continue to do what’s necessary and have that hope and belief that if you do stuff the right way you’ll have a shot at advancing.
“I’m just super proud of these girls for sticking with it, continuing to believe in each other and continuing to fight,” he added. “To do something that hasn’t been done in over a decade and to step on the court in the Sweet 16, it’s a special accomplishment. These girls will be remembered for their contributions to (RHS) girls’ basketball forever.”
Russellville’s first regional test in a long time will be another tough assignment. The Lady Golden Tigers are to meet No. 2 Guntersville (25-4) in the regional semifinal. Russellville has been locked in, Groce said, but this still relatively young team will need to put in an exceptional performance to pull off back-to-back upsets.
“Controlling the boards is an absolute must. We need to be pushing the pace with tempo. I think against Sardis we shot over 30 threes so we need to be able to get shots. And the last three games our assists have skyrocketed—I think we averaged 15 assists in those games—so moving the ball, penetrating and trusting each other is crucial,” he said. “So my keys to the game are win the rebounding edge, move the ball, and get our assists up. And if we can reduce turnovers and keep our turnovers under 10, that’d be great.
“I’m super happy for this group of girls,” he added. “We’ve still got a lot of youth, but they’re getting experience and they’ve got a lot of energy and dedication. It’s special and I appreciate this group so much and hopefully we can get out there and show the type of energy and effort that we need to to advance to the Elite Eight.”
The Lady Golden Tigers’ scheduled showdown with Guntersville is set for Thursday, February 19, at 9 a.m.
Phil Campbell High School and Red Bay High School, runners-up in their areas, also made the postseason but were defeated in the sub-regional Friday night, ending their campaigns. The Lady Bobcats led No. 7-ranked Lauderdale County at the end of three quarters of low-scoring action but were unable to pull off the road upset in the end, falling 38-31. Red Bay, facing off against Cold Springs, was routed to end its season; the Lady Tigers lost to the Lady Eagles 71-17.