Red Bay looks to make deeper playoff run after punching ticket to Northwest Regional

The Red Bay High School varsity boys’ basketball team was the lone local boys’ team from Franklin County to advance to the AHSAA Northwest Regional tournament after walking over Falkville High School Saturday night. The Tigers, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A by the Alabama Sports Writers Association, defeated the Blue Devils 71-39 and will play in the regional for the ninth year in-a-row.

Red Bay jumped out to a lead as large as 10 in the first period and led by seven points after the opening eight minutes. In the second quarter, the hosts began to create even more separation despite a tenacious defensive effort by Falkville. The Tigers quickly took an 11-point lead early in the quarter and, after two quick steals and breakaway buckets in the final 30 seconds of the period, had ballooned it to 25 points by halftime. At the break, RBHS held a 43-18 advantage.

After the intermission, Falkville went on an quick run to cut the deficit down to 19 points early in the third, but Red Bay’s explosive first half would see the Tigers through. RBHS absorbed the early third quarter pressure and went into the fourth with a comfortable 55-34 advantage. The final eight minutes of play was all Red Bay, which outscored the Blue Devils 16-5 to win by 32.

“We’ve been pretty good offensively all year so we just kept doing our thing on that side of it,” RBHS head coach John Torisky told the Franklin Free Press. “The pace of play was really good. We had a lot of assists; I think we had 20 or 21 assists which is probably the most assists we’ve had in a game this year. And our defense is playing good, too. We pressured them, forced quick shots and were able to get more possessions.”

Khalil Luster led the way with 20 points for the Tigers. Senior Jaxon Vinson also hit double figures in the win, scoring 18 points.

Wallace State now awaits the Tigers, as does their opponent Tanner High School. That Class 2A regional semifinal contest is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

While Red Bay has had unparalleled success, at least locally, the last decade in reaching the regional phase of the basketball playoffs, getting to the state quarterfinals has been a challenge. In their previous eight postseason appearances, the Tigers did make the Final Four once, in 2020, but have failed to advance past the Sweet 16 the other seven occasions. Some of those season-ending losses—like a one-point defeat to Vincent in 2019, three-point losses to Sheffield and Tanner in 2022 and ‘23, and a two-point loss to Tanner last season—have been hard to swallow.

Torisky said it’s great to reach the regionals and all, but he’s sick and tired of being one-and-done at Wallace. The No. 3-ranked Tigers want to make a deep playoff push—and the head coach believes this squad can be the one to do it. The first team standing in their way is Tanner.

“Tanner’s unlike most teams we play. They’re very physical. It’s hard to play against a team with their level of physicality, so we need to focus on getting back in transition, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball,” Torisky said. “I know we’ll have a battle—Tanner is as tough as they get—but I know we can score, so if we can take care of those other things then I feel like we have a good chance of winning that game.

“It’s always nice to get to Wallace, you know? That’s a big deal around here, and we’ve been there a lot. We’ve been in a lot of close games down there; unfortunately, we’ve ended up on the short side of those a lot, too,” he added. “Personally, I’m always glad to go to Wallace, but I’m tired of just playing one game. This year we want to play at least two games, and I think this year’s team is good enough to make that happen.”

Belgreen and Phil Campbell’s boys teams also made it to the sub-regional round but were eliminated. The Bulldogs lost to Decatur Heritage in a nailbiter, 53-49; the Bobcats were ousted by Lauderdale County, the No. 7 team in Class 3A, 75-34.

BHS and host Decatur Heritage played it close throughout the game with the Bulldogs trailing for just five or six points for the majority of it. At the end, however, Belgreen had a real chance to pull out a victory but for an unfortunate turnover late.

Senior Braycen Johnson closed out his career with a game-high 20-point performance. Junior Jake Dill also hit double digits with 14 points for the Bulldogs.

In Phil Campbell’s game at Lauderdale County, the top 10-ranked Tigers didn’t waste a lot of time. The Bobcats trailed by double digits at the end of the first period and LCHS continued to press its advantage until the end, ultimately winning by a 41-point margin.