Phil Campbell basketball teams sweep Colbert Heights to open area play

It was a good night for the Phil Campbell High School varsity girls’ and boys’ basketball teams Tuesday night as both picked up victories against Colbert Heights High School in their opening area contests of the 2025-26 campaign. The Lady Bobcats earned a 45-36 win over CHHS and the PCHS boys routed the Wildcats 71-53.

The girls’ game opened the action at the PCHS gymnasium, and the hosts got off to a scorching hot start: Phil Campbell jumped out to a 16-2 lead by the end of the first quarter before taking a 20-point, 28-8 lead at the halftime break.

“We executed well,” Phil Campbell girls’ basketball head coach Craig Thomas said of his team’s first half performance. “We executed and (Colbert Heights) wasn’t putting just a ton of pressure on us—and we actually shot for a high percentage in the first half.”

That all changed in the second half as the visitors went on a 18-6 run to start the third period and cut the deficit to eight points heading into the final eight minutes.

Unforced turnovers and allowing Colbert Heights easy, second-chance baskets hurt the Lady Bobcats coming out of the break.

Phil Campbell’s Georgia Motes shoots over a defender in the Lady Bobcats’ game vs. Colbert Heights on December 9.

“I think our youth showed there,” Thomas said. “We quit covering the pick-and-rolls, we started going under screens instead of sitting on top of them like you’re supposed to, and I think they hit a few threes in a row.

“I think we sort of just took (the lead) for granted, and our youth showed up a little bit,” he added.

In the end, Phil Campbell was able to hold on to its lead in the fourth quarter thanks to a re-motivated defense, a few fast break layups off steals and a couple of gimmes in transition.

“After we got into some trouble we started to bear down on defense again and play like we were supposed to,” Thomas said.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Bobcats outscored the Lady Wildcats 11-10, enough to give PCHS the 45-36 win.

Downing the Lady Wildcats means a positive area start for the Phil Campbell girls, who hope to return to regional action again this season.

“This is a very important win—that’s what I was telling the girls,” Thomas said. “We don’t want anything to come down to a coin toss. Of course, we have Mars Hill in our area so we want to finish second or third (in the area) and give ourselves a chance (in the area tournament). Tonight was a good start to getting that.”

Phil Campbell’s Leela Baker was the game’s top scorer with 15 points. Baker, who reached the 1,000 career points milestone earlier this season, has been the pivotal, driving force for the Lady Bobcats this year, leading the team in a number of ways.

“Leela is very important to our team. She’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever coached,” Thomas told the Franklin Free Press. “She takes care of the ball most of the time, and she’s our go-to—there’s no doubt. When things get tough she’s the one we count on.

“She’s a good leader on the floor. She keeps the younger girls’ confidence up,” he added. “We’re playing two eighth graders, a ninth grader and a bunch of tenth graders, so she has to do a lot. I do enough fussing on them, and she does a great job being there to pick up the pieces.”

Seven other Lady Bobcats got on the scoresheet alongside Baker. Addie Gilbert had eight points, Georgia Motes and Layla Baker added six points, Emily Walker scored four, and three others scored two points.

After the girls’ game, the Phil Campbell boys met Colbert Heights on the hardwood.

The contest was much more competitive in the first half than the previous game as the Bobcats took just a four-point, 34-30 advantage into the halftime break.

However, led by 17 points from junior Austin Elliott and 16 points from Madden Welch—Welch scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter—the Bobcats ended up running away from the Wildcats before the final buzzer sounded.

Phil Campbell junior Austin Elliott gets ready to attempt a free throw in a game against Colbert Heights on December 9.

Second year Phil Campbell boys’ head coach Shannon Benford said his team showed much more fight in the final 16 minutes which allowed them to eventually put the game out of reach.

“The first half we had no intensity whatsoever. We were lackadaisical on defense and not guarding very well,” he said. “We switched to man-to-man (defense) in the second half and put a lot more pressure on them, and I think that really affected (Colbert Heights).”

The Bobcats led by as much as 24 points late in the second half, but at the same time the hosts allowed CHHS a few freebie points off technical fouls. Benford said picking up a first area win was important, but the Bobcats still have areas in which they need to improve.

“It’s a good win, but we’ve got a long way to go,” he said. “We gotta keep our heads a little better—keep our cool a little better. And we get a little lackadaisical sometimes, so we still have work to do before we play Sheffield on Friday.”

Both Phil Campbell teams are set to return to action against area foe Sheffield at home on Friday, December 12.