Belgreen varsity girls outlast Phil Campbell to secure third straight Franklin County Tournament title

For the third consecutive season, the Belgreen High School varsity girls’ basketball team has captured the Franklin County Tournament title. In an intense battle on Saturday night, the Lady Bulldogs downed Phil Campbell 58-54 to defend their crown.

“This is the first time the Belgreen girls, in the school’s history, have won three (county tournaments) in a row, and that’s huge,” BHS head coach Chad Green told the Franklin Free Press after the game. “Winning the county tournament is big anyway, but three in a row is a little bit special.”

Before getting to the championship round to take on PCHS, Belgreen, ranked No. 10 in Class 2A, had to first take care of Vina in the first round on Tuesday and then the host Tharptown in the semifinals Friday night.

In the semis, Belgreen dispatched the Lady Wildcats without much trouble, beating them by a final score of 71-17. The 54-point win was the largest margin of victory for the Lady Bulldogs this season.

Led by 12 points from senior Alayna Tate, twelve different Belgreen players contributed to the point total in the win. Defensively, BHS limited Tharptown’s top scorer, senior Alyssa Fischer, to just five points.

Belgreen’s Randi Terry looks for a pass outlet during the Franklin County Tournament championship game against Phil Campbell.

On to the county championship game, Belgreen’s showdown with Phil Campbell was much more competitive and came down to the final minute of play.

Tied up 10-10 at the end of the first quarter and 21-21 at halftime, it was apparent that the contest would come down to a handful of plays—and it did.

Thanks to five made three-pointers in the third, Belgreen managed to take a two-point, 40-38 lead going into the final period of play. 

“In the third quarter, those three-point shots were big because we were struggling to score,” Green said. “(PCHS) did a great job of defending us and scoring, as well, so I was glad we were able to hit those three point shots.”

In the fourth, the Lady Bulldogs started well, creating a little more separation to go up by eight points—50-42—with around four minutes remaining. The Lady Bulldogs appeared to be gaining the upper hand, but a called timeout by Phil Campbell head coach Craig Thomas did the trick for his squad; after the timeout, the Lady Bobcats went on a 9-0 run to go up 51-50 with 2:24 remaining.

After going down, Green called a timeout of his own to rally his troops and stall Phil Campbell’s momentum. Just a little later, after PCHS knocked down a free throw to make it a 52-50 game, Belgreen’s Jemma Moore hit a big three-pointer with just over a minute left to regain the lead for her team, 53-52. That was Moore’s only bucket of the game, but it proved to be a massive one; after retaking the lead, BHS never gave it back up.

Belgreen’s MaKenna Fisher battles Phil Campbell’s Addie Gilbert for a loose ball in the Franklin County Tournament championship game.

A turnover by Phil Campbell gave BHS senior MaKenna Fisher an easy fast break layup to make it 55-52, and, with time running out and no other option for Phil Campbell but to foul, Fisher was able to ice the game making three of her last four free throws.

“It wasn’t perfect but we gutted it out,” Green said.

“All year long this team has been a resilient team. They’re veterans, they’re older, and they’ve been with me for awhile. They’ve won two buzzer-beater games this year. At the end of the game, I think we know that we always have an opportunity to win, whether we’re up or we’re down,” he added.

After the final buzzer sounded, the All-Tournament Team was announced and trophies were handed out by Tharptown High School principal Dr. Tyler Berryman.

The 2026 All-Tournament Team selections were Red Bay’s Katlyn Lindley, Vina’s Layla Hester, Tharptown’s Raeleigh Harrell, Phil Campbell’s Leela Baker and Layla Baker, and Belgreen’s Jemma Moore, MaKenna Fisher, and Randi Terry, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

In the championship game, Leela Baker and Layla Baker led the Lady Bobcats with 16 and 17 points, respectively. BHS’ Terry, who hit four three-pointers in the title game, led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 points. She finished with 40 points over three games in the tournament.

The 2026 Franklin County All-Tournament Team. Pictured here, from left to right: Layla Baker, PCHS; Leela Baker, PCHS; Randi Terry (MVP), BHS; Raeleigh Harrell, THS; Jemma Moore, BHS; MaKenna Fisher, BHS.