Red Level falls 60-45 to Brantley in area action

Red Level didn’t play its brand of basketball Tuesday night, Tigers coach Allen Catrett said.

The Tigers fell 60-45 to a quality Brantley team in area action at home, during a game where RLS trailed throughout the contest.

Brantley outscored RLS 15-8 in the first period, and strutted out to a 35-15 lead with 1:21 left in the second period to stay in full control.

KJ Lawrence, who led the Tigers with 34 points and six rebounds, drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the game to 38-18 at the break.

“We just didn’t play well tonight,” Catrett said. “Brantley had a lot to do with that. We didn’t play Red Level basketball, but everything is fixable.

“We’re going to come in and work on it (today),” he said.

With this loss, RLS falls to 13-8 overall, and 1-1 in Class 1A, Area 3. The Tigers will be back in area action on Friday when they visit J.F. Shields.

During the second half, the Bulldogs (9-2) never let up, stepping up their inside and perimeter games to another level.

Wesley Person Jr., who led BHS with 17 points, got an early drive to give the Bulldogs a 40-22 lead early in the third period.

Person then drained two 3-pointers to help the Bulldogs go on a 8-0 run and BHS led 48-24 at the mid-point of the third.

Lawrence scored the next six points for the Tigers on free throws and Spencer Stallworth added the front-end of a pair to give RLS 31 points going into the fourth period.

Brantley’s Stefan King, who dished in 12 points, got a late floater to go and the Bulldogs took a 54-31 lead going into the fourth period.

Lawrence scored his final 10 points of the night in the fourth period as the Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 14-6.

Dee Howard also had a good night for BHS with 14 points.

Catrett said one problem he noticed from his Tigers was that they were a little impatient on scoring.

“You’ve got to work the ball around until you get the best shot,” he said. “The first open look isn’t always the best shot. A lot of times, we take the first opportunity and that’s not always the best one.

“We played hard,” he said. “We just got a few things we’ve got to work on. We’ll be all right.”

When asked if he thought RLS had a better second half, Catrett said his team did offensively.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’re patient,” he said. “You don’t ever dig yourself a hole against a team like Brantley. They’re a good basketball team.”

In girls action, Brantley went on a 68-30 rout over the Lady Tigers.

Two RLS girls finished in double figures — Shelby Holley with 10 points and Kayla Hinson with 13 points.

Brantley’s Raven Davis led the Lady Bulldogs with 23 points. Payton Burnett and Amanhi Upshaw had 13 points each.