Lady Dawgs polish off Irish in 3A hoops playoffs opener

The field of 32 Class 3A basketball teams — including Franklin County’s Lady Bulldogs who punched their tickets to the post-season — was trimmed by half earlier this week.

District 7 No. 1 seed FC made the Sweet 16 cut by knocking off District 8 No. 4 seed Saint Patrick of Biloxi by a 58-54 margin on Monday, Feb. 14 in Meadville.

The Lady Dawgs will now face the Forest Lady Bearcats — the District 5 No. 2 seed — at home on Friday, Feb. 18.

In Monday’s first-round contest, Franklin and Saint Patrick kept things close in the early going with the Lady Dawgs holding a 15-14 advantage after eight minutes of regulation.

FC opened a nine-point bulge to start the second frame with a pair of field goals by Ja’Sharreah Hunt and single two pointers by Niyla Wright and Harmoni Porter in the initial three minutes of the stanza.

The Irish battled back to cut Franklin’s lead to five with 28 seconds before intermission, but Hunt drained a late two pointer to give the Lady Dawgs a 31-24 lead at the half.

Saint Patrick was able to take the lead with 3:58 left in the third quarter — thanks in large part to four key field goals in a two-minute span.

With 2:30 left in the frame, FC’s offense picked up its tempo again with Hunt pumping in five points — a pair of two-point buckets and a free throw — while JaKya Brown hit a two pointer with 1:46 remaining and another just before the horn.

When the dust settled, Franklin had opened a 42-38 lead to start the fourth quarter.

The Irish rallied to start the final frame and pulled to within one point of the FC lead, 46-45, with 3:45 left to play in the game.

The Lady Dawgs’ offensive engine refired again with Wright and Hunt scoring a combined six points to widen the margin over Saint Patrick, 52-45.

Both teams were in the bonus with less than two minutes left on the clock and FC held on for the four-point win.

Hunt led the game with 27 points while Wright finished with 10 in the victory.

Other FC players contributing to the win were Brown with nine; Harmoni Porter with six; De’Asia Buie with four; and Rylei Turner with two.

Hunt was 5-of-14 from the free throw line, and recorded five defensive rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.

Wright had a total of eight rebounds — four on offense and four on defense. She was also 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.

Brown, who had a 3-of-4 shooting performance from the free-throw line, had a team-high three assists and a trio of steals.

Porter and Turner both had a pair of steals for the Lady Dawgs with Turner also pulling down five defensive rebounds, making two assists and recording a block.

Buie, who was 2-of-2 from the line, collected five rebounds — three of those being defensive boards — and had an assist.

FC’s Kennedy Washington was also credited with a defensive rebound.