Ambrosio hits buzzer-beater as Lady Bobcats down Russellville 50-48, RHS boys beat PCHS
A buzzer-beating and a blowout were the results of Monday night’s hardwood contests between Phil Campbell High School and Russellville High School: the Lady Bobcats of PCHS picked up a narrow, last-second win, 50-48, over the Lady Golden Tigers from RHS, while the Russellville varsity boys’ basketball more than doubled up Phil Campbell, 72-34.
The Phil Campbell varsity girls’ basketball team’s win over the Lady Golden Tigers gave the hosts the home-and-away season sweep over the Class 5A visitors.
Both contests were tight affairs: Phil Campbell walked away with a four-point, 54-50 victory at Russellville back on December 13th; a month later, the path to victory was even narrower for the Lady Bobcats.
Phil Campbell led Russellville for the entire first half, holding a 12-8 lead after the opening eight minutes and then a 23-18 advantage at halftime. But RHS surged coming out of the break and reversed the situation to take a three-point, 38-35 lead after the third quarter. That set the stage for a nerve-racking final period of play, one that would eventually come down to the final few tenths of a second.
In the dying minutes, Russellville held a four-point lead, but critical takeaways and forced mistakes by Phil Campbell’s Macy Hardy gave the Lady Bobcats an opportunity to even up the score—PCHS took advantage and hit the baskets it needed.
Tied 48-48 with less than 30 seconds remaining, the Lady Bobcats had possession and looked to take the final shot of regulation. The seconds ticking away, PCHS scrambled for an open look, but Russellville made it difficult. Finally, though, the breakthrough was made. With literally no time to spare, Mia Ambrosio found herself underneath the basket, received the pass, and laid in the game-winner as the horn sounded.
The bucket was just Ambrosio’s second of the game—her fourth point—but it was the decider that handed PCHS its 15th of the season.
Phil Campbell’s victory also wouldn’t have been possible without a standout performance by Leela Baker, who dropped a game-high 31 points, more than half of the Lady Bobcats’ total. Hardy, who made some key defensive plays, finished with six points.
Russellville sophomore Ella Copeland led the way for the Lady Golden Tigers with 25 points in the loss, while Angeleah Smith added 14 points for RHS.
The following boys’ game wasn’t quite as tantalizing as Russellville took care of business fairly easily against Phil Campbell.
The Bobcats hung around for the first quarter and, in fact, had a lead over the Golden Tigers midway through the period. After that, however, Russellville gained control. The visitors took a 10-point lead after the first quarter and then extended their advantage to 22 points at halftime.
In the second half it was more of the same as the Golden Tigers continued to increase their lead, eventually triggering a running clock.
Russellville was led to victory by 27 points from all-state guard EJ King. Senior Jah Williams tacked on 11 points and Parker Odom added eight.
Phil Campbell senior Hayden Wingo scored a team-high 14 points for the Bobcats and sophomore Austin Elliott scored nine.
Up next for the Phil Campbell teams is the Franklin County Tournament, hosted by Red Bay High School, which will start on January 14th and end on Saturday, January 18th. PCHS will play its first games of the tourney on Friday; the girls will face Vina at 6 P.M. and the boys will matchup with Belgreen after that.
Russellville’s next contests will be on the road at area rival West Point on Friday.