Lady Dawgs drop two hoops decisions

Franklin County High School’s varsity girls basketball team came up short in a pair of contests during the past week — falling to Morton, 37-29, on Tuesday, Dec. 7 and to Pearl, 63-60, on Saturday, Dec. 11.

The losses marked three defeats in a row for the Lady Bulldogs, who will have two more chances to bounce back before Christmas.

FC’s record now stands at 6-4 overall.

MORTON 37, FC 29

In a low-scoring affair, visiting Morton and Franklin County kept things fairly close in the first half of the contest.

Both teams scored eight points in the first quarter with Morton going on an 8-7 run in the second frame to hold a 16-15 lead at intermission.

The difference in the contest came when Morton held Franklin scoreless in the third quarter and went on a 17-0 tear to open a 33-15 lead headed into the final eight minutes of the affair.

In the fourth quarter, FC tried to climb back into the game with a 14-4 run, but the Lady Dawgs’ comeback simply ran out of time.

JaSharreah Hunt led Franklin County with 11 points while JaKya Brown chipped in eight and Harmoni Porter finished with five.

Rylei Turner added four points to the Lady Dawgs’ tally sheet and teammate Niyla Wright scored one point.

Offensively, Franklin County was 23 percent in terms of two-point shooting, 38 percent in three-point shots and 40 percent from the charity stripe.

Defensively, FC was paced by Turner and Wright who each had eight rebounds — two offensive and six defensive boards.

Brown wound up with six rebounds while Hunt had five and DeAsia Buie and Madison Sparkman accounted for two each.

Hunt and Brown had two assists apiece and ended the night with two and three steals, respectively.

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PEARL 63, FC 60

The initial half of Saturday’s game saw Franklin County open a 27-23 bulge on the road against the Lady Pirates, but things changed quickly after intermission.

Pearl outscored the Lady Dawgs 29-17 in the third quarter with FC outdueling the host team 16-11 in the final frame.

Three Franklin County players finished in double figures — Hunt led the way with 20 points with Brown adding 14 and Porter tacking on 13.

Turner chipped in six points for FC while Buie scored four, Wright recorded two and Kennedy Washington had one point.

The Lady Dawgs had a better shooting performance against Pearl by hitting 46 percent of their two pointers, 56 percent from beyond the arch and 59 percent of their free throws.

Hunt finished 7-of-8 from the charity stripe while Brown was 5-of-9 and Washington wound up 1-of-2.

Wright led on defense with eight rebounds as Turner recorded seven and Brown had five for FC.

Hunt accounted for seven rebounds, five assists and three steals with Brown pulling down five boards, four assists and three steals.

Porter was credited with a pair of rebounds, two assists and a team-high four steals against Pearl.

Franklin County was scheduled to return to the court on Tuesday, Dec. 14 with a road contest at Lawrence County.

Results of that contest were not available at press time, but will appear in next week’s print edition of The Franklin Advocate.

On Friday, Dec. 17, the Lady Dawgs will travel to face off against Natchez High School and will play against South Pike in the Lions Club Classic Tournament on the road.

FC is slated to face off in tournament play against Terry on Monday, Dec. 27 and McComb on Tuesday, Dec. 28.

The team will then travel to Port Gibson on Tuesday, Jan. 4 for a district game against the Lady Blue Waves.