FC boys hoops take two from McComb, Brookhaven

While close might count in horseshoes and hand grenades, the Franklin County boys’ varsity basketball team walked away with a pair of razor-thin victories last week — downing Brookhaven, 64-62, in overtime and slipping past McComb, 46-45.

FC 64, BROOKHAVEN 62

In a nip-and-tuck battle at home Friday, Dec. 3, the Bulldogs battled down to the wire to claim a 64-62 win over Brookhaven High School to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Daylen Thomas paced FC with a game-high 22 points — 17 of those coming during regulation — while Michael Covington, Kobe Marshall and Amarion Wilson also finished in double figures with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Caleibria McDonald ended the night with eight points and Derrick Wilson chipped in one point.

Franklin outscored Ole Brook 14-12 in the first eight minutes of the game with the visiting team coming back to outpace FC 20-11 before the mid-game break.

The Dawgs battled to a 17-11 run through the third frame with Brookhaven sending the game into overtime with an 8-7 pace through the fourth quarter.

FC shot 9-of-20 from the free throw line in the game while Ole Brook was 10-of-21 on the night.

FC 46, McCOMB 45

Franklin County led early and wound up trailing much of the game before an impressive fourth-quarter run helped to push the Bulldogs to a 46-45 win over visiting McComb on Tuesday, Nov. 30.

The Tigers led 11-9 through the first quarter before FC went on an 11-10 run in the second frame to trail by only one — 21-20 — at halftime.

McComb padded its lead slightly in the third with an 11-9 offensive spurt.

The Dawgs rallied in the final eight minutes of the contest to outpace the Tigers 17-11 and sealed the victory.

Thomas paced the FC effort with a game-high 19 points as Marshall wound up with 11.

Also contributing to the win were McDonald with seven, Amarion Wilson with four, Jailen Hunt with three and Derrick Wilson with two.

In terms of two-point shooting, FC was 49 percent from the floor and was 13 percent from beyond the arch.
As a team, Franklin was 4-of-9 from the charity stripe against McComb.

Thomas had 10 rebounds — five on offense and five on defense — along with two steals for the Bulldogs while McDonald and Marshall collected six rebounds apiece.

Marshall also finished with three assists and five steals while McDonald and Covington had two assists each and a pair of steals apiece.

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UPCOMING GAMES

Franklin County was scheduled to host Morton on Tuesday, Dec. 7, and results of that contest were not available at press time. Complete details will appear in next week’s edition of The Franklin Advocate.

The Bulldogs will travel to play in the Pearl Coaches vs. Cancer tournament on Saturday, Dec. 11 with game times to be announced.

The final three games before FC takes its Christmas holiday will be played on the road. On Tuesday, Dec. 14, the Bulldogs will travel to Lawrence County.

On Friday, Dec. 17, Franklin County will head to Natchez for a contest between the two programs.

The Lions Club Classic will be played on Saturday, Dec. 18 at Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit with the Bulldogs slated to play in the event.