DISTRICT CHAMPS AGAIN: Lady Dawgs' win streak stands at 15-straight

WOODVILLE – Franklin County’s varsity girls basketball team earned back-to-back wins in last week’s District 7-3A tournament — claiming a 66-45 semi-final victory on Thursday, Feb. 10 over host Wilkinson County and then a 64-48 title tilt decision on Friday, Feb. 11 over Wesson.

FC 66, WILKINSON CO. 45

Despite a slow start in the first quarter in which the score was tied at 10-all, the Lady Bulldogs’ offense methodically began pulling away with runs of 23-13 in the second frame and 26-5 in the third eight-minute cycle to ultimately give Franklin a 66-45 win over Wilkinson County.

Four FC players scored in double figures with Ja’Sharreah Hunt collecting a game-high 24 points.

Harmoni Porter recorded 13 points and Rylei Turner and JaKya Brown finished with 12 each. De’Asia Buie contributed four points and DeShara Hannon added one.

Hunt and Porter each drained a trey in the first quarter while Buie and Hunt hit two-pointers in the frame that helped keep things relatively close.

The second period said Porter hit again from outside the arch and punched the ball in for three field goals prior to intermission.

Brown, Turner and Hunt sank two field goals apiece, and Hunt drained two from the charity stripe to help open a 33-23 bulge at the break.

The third frame featured Hunt’s hot hand, which included a pair of three pointers along with two field goals and a bonus shot.

In addition, Brown had two field goals along with hitting 4-of-8 from the free throw line in the third quarter. Turner contributed a pair of two pointers, Buie hit a single field goal and Porter went 1-of-2 from the line.

Wilkinson County outscored FC 17-7 in the final eight minutes of the game, but it proved not to be enough to overcome the Lady Dawgs’ lead.

Franklin County was 11-of-24 in relation to free throws with Brown hitting 4-of-9 and Hunt collecting 3-of-7 during the game.

In addition, Turner was 2-of-2 and Porter and Hannon were both 1-of-2.

FC 64, WESSON 48

In Friday’s championship game, Franklin County came out firing on all cylinders thanks to a 20-6 first-quarter scoring run before the Lady Cobras outlasted the Lady Dawgs 11-9 in the second stanza.

Hunt sank four field goals in the first quarter and hit a two pointer and a free throw before the mid-game break.

Brown contributed five first-half field goals and a free throw with Buie hitting two buckets and Niyla Wright draining one.

Holding a 29-17 lead after the half, FC went on a 19-12 run in the third quarter with Wesson outgaining the Lady Dawgs 19-16 in the final eight minutes of the title tilt.

Hunt and Brown split top-scoring honors with 22 points apiece against the Lady Cobras with Porter hitting all 10 of her points in the second half. Wright wound up with six points — four of those in the second half — and Buie contributed four.

As a whole, the Lady Dawgs were 10-of-13 from the free throw line with Hunt going 6-of-7 and Brown and Porter both finishing 2-of-3.

The two post-season tournament wins boosted the Lady Dawgs’ latest win streak to 15 games and pushed FC’s season record to 22-4 overall and 12-0 against 7-3A district foes.

DISTRICT HONORS

On Friday night, Hunt was selected as the district girls’ “Player of the Year” while teammates Brown, Porter, Turner and Wright were named as All-District selections.

Head Coach Rickey Van O’Quinn was recognized as the 7-3A “Coach of the Year.”