Belgreen wins back-and-forth battle against Covenant Christian to clinch area championship

A back-and-forth defensive struggle saw the Belgreen High School varsity boys’ basketball team upset Covenant Christian in the Class 2A Area 14 championship game on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs, who were beaten by the Eagles in both regular season contests, came out on top with the one-point, 32-31 victory to earn the program’s eighth area title in nine years—their first in Class 2A.

“It means a lot to us,” first-year Belgreen head coach Will Bonner said. “We started the year off pretty bad and got beat by (Covenant) twice in the regular season.

“I think this game meant more to the kids than anything,” he added. “They worked hard, we prepped really well, everyone was focused. They just wanted to win. At the end of the day they gave it all they got and we came out on top.”

The Bulldogs and Eagles put forth a defensive effort that ended in the lowest-scoring affair for either team this season. Though there weren’t many points, neither team was able to jump out to a comfortable lead as the two teams traded blows.

“It was a defensive battle the whole game,” Bonner said. “It was back-and-forth the whole game. They’d go on a little 5-0 run and then we’d have to go on a little 5-0 run. It was more of a defensive battle than anything else.”

High-scoring or not, a win is a win and that’s what’s most important this time of year. The Bulldogs will take it—and the home-court advantage in the subregional that comes with it.

Belgreen is set to host Sulligent on Saturday, February 8, a game Bonner, encouraged after beating Covenant Christian, feels the Bulldogs have the ability to win.

“I know Sulligent is gonna be good. They got beat by Red Bay by seven points, and I think we played Red Bay pretty tight early on in the season,” Bonner said, “It’s gonna be a tough game, but I honestly feel like we’re playing our best basketball right now.”