BRINGING THE PRESSURE: Red Level, Pleasant Home split varsity games

Published 12:05 am Saturday, January 19, 2019

The Pleasant Home Eagles and Red Level Tigers split varsity games on Friday night in Red Level.

GIRLS

PLEASANT HOME 52, RED LEVEL 15

In the first varsity game of the night, the No. 2-ranked Lady Eagles took charge early and held on for a 52-15 victory.

Amy Kate Bulger got the Lady Eagles on the board first and then River Baldwin followed with a layup.

A few minutes later, Baldwin scored in the paint off an assist from Allie Garner.

Bella Worley brings the ball down the floor.

Ziykerrian McClain knocked down a 3-pointer for the Lady Tigers, but Pleasant Home was on top 19-3 at the end of the first period.

Both teams continued to battle, but Pleasant Home was able to control the game and come away with a 52-15 victory.

Baldwin led the Lady Eagles with 25 points.

“We have pretty much gotten into the deep part of the season and right now we are just trying to fine tune everything,” Pleasant Home head coach Tony Wilson said. “We want to fine tune everything to get ready for the area tournament and hopefully some postseason after to that if the good Lord blesses us enough. We just want to be able to execute like we are supposed to and do the things that we are supposed to do and do them right. From here on out, we just have to step up a little on defense.”

BOYS

RED LEVEL 66, PLEASANT HOME 40

In the final game of the night, the Tigers surged in the second half to knock off the Eagles 66-40.

Red Level came out strong on offense and defense as they quickly took control of the game.

Matt Coleman picked up the first bucket of the game and then connected on a free throw.

Joel Phillips added a basket and then a steal and layup from Chance Russell put Red Level up 7-0.

Bryson Pate got in the scoring action with a layup as the Tigers went up 9-0 heading into the second period.

James Hawkins got the Eagles on the board to start the second period and then Austin Kelley hit four free throws to cut Red Level’s lead down to 9-6.

Pleasant Home tied the game 11-11 with a free throw from Kelley.

Pate knocked down a 3-pointer for the Tigers and Jacob Catrett came up with a layup to put Red Level up 20-15 at halftime.

In the third period, Pate caught fire from 3-point land as he helped Red Level take a 45-29 lead into the final period.

Red Level continued to surge as they cruised to a 66-40 victory.

Pate led the Tigers with 24 points.

“I thought we played really good on defense, especially in the first quarter,” Red Level head coach Allen Catrett said. “We wanted to apply more pressure at the beginning and I thought we did a good job of that for the most part. In the third and fourth, our offense really picked it up. Bryson (Pate) made a lot of shots in the second half. We had a lot of intensity and passion throughout the game and we executed the game plan.”