Lady Dawgs win 17th straight hoops contest; will travel to Tylertown Friday

The post-season momentum kept building for Franklin County High School’s Lady Bulldogs varsity basketball squad who thumped the Forest Lady Bearcats, 51-32, in the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Class 3A playoffs.

Last Friday’s win boosted the Lady Dawgs’ streak of wins to 17-straight games and moved Franklin County to the Elite Eight round in post-season play.

FC, whose overall record stands at 23-4, won the 7-3A regular season title and came out of its area play as the district’s No. 1 seeded program.

On Monday, Feb. 14, Franklin played host to and defeated Region 8 No. 4 seed Saint Patrick by a 58-54 margin.

“We had two huge wins last week and our defense executed well in both contests, especially against Forest,” Franklin County Head Basketball Coach Rickey Van O’Quinn said.

“We knew coming into last Friday’s game that we had to keep the Lady Bearcats away from the rim, and were able to limit them to two points in the second quarter and seven in the third.

“At this level, if you can hold an opponent to nine points in two quarters of action, you’re giving yourself a better-than-average chance to win the game.

“I am super excited for what our girls have accomplished thus far and how hard they have worked to get our program to this point.”

In Friday’s contest, Franklin and Forest battled to a 10-all, first-quarter stalemate with FC’s Harmoni Porter draining a trey.

JaKya Brown hit a field goal and Ja’Sharreah Hunt connected on a pair of two-pointers and a free throw in the initial stanza.

The second quarter featured a 13-2 offensive run by the Lady Dawgs sparked by eight points from Brown — including a three-pointer, a field goal and three successful shots from the charity stripe.

Adding to the FC scoring surge before intermission was Hunt, who had another pair of two-pointers, and Niyla Wright dropped in 1-of-2 from the line.

Leading 16-8 at the mid-game break, Franklin County kept its foot on the offensive gas with a 16-7 run in the third quarter to build a sizable lead that would not be relinquished down the stretch.

Hunt came out of the locker room with a team-leading eight points, including a trey, a field goal and three free throws.

In addition, Brown chipped in a pair of two-pointers along with a charity shot and Porter found the net from outside the arch.

Forest attempted a comeback of sorts in the final eight minutes of the contest thanks to a 13-12 offensive spurt, but the late rally could not ultimately overcome the lead Franklin County had methodically built throughout the contest.

Wright paced the Lady Dawgs with six points in the fourth quarter — with a field goal and a 4-of-4 performance from the line while Hunt and Brown both contributed three apiece down the stretch for the Lady Dawgs.

In the end, Hunt and Brown finished the effort with 20 and 18 points, respectively, with the duo scoring more than the entire Lady Bearcats squad combined.

FC’s Wright wrapped up her night with seven points and Porter was credited with six.

Statistically, Hunt led the Lady Dawgs with six steals against Forest with Brown adding three and Porter accounting for one.

In addition, Hunt, Brown and Porter had two assists each in the contest.

Hunt, Wright and Rylei Turner each had a single block against the Lady Bearcats.

Franklin County recorded 27 defensive rebounds in the playoff game and were led by Brown, who had six, and Porter and Turner both finished with four apiece.

Hunt and Brown had three defensive board each and Saiyon Harris recorded one.

The Lady Bulldogs accounted for 15 offensive rebounds – eight of those from Wright with two each by Brown and De’Asia Buie and one apiece by Hunt, Porter and Turner.

FC was 17-of-30 from the free throw line against Forest with Brown going 7-of-10, Wright sinking 5-of-6 and Hunt drilling 5-of-11.

Next on the playoff map for Franklin County will be a round-of-eight road game set for Friday, Feb. 25 against Region 8 No. 1 seed Tylertown.