Fighting Irish outlast FC in 3A Elite Eight playoff game

BILOXI – Despite a hard-fought battle until the final horn, Franklin County’s varsity boys basketball team saw its remarkable 2021-22 season come to an end Saturday, Feb. 26 in a 55-49 Class 3A Elite Eight road contest loss to Saint Patrick High School’s Fighting Irish.

“Obviously, we came out of this one a little disappointed,” Bulldogs Head Basketball Coach Rickey Van O’Quinn said following the contest.

“Losing is never easy, especially when you prepare to win. We came up two games short of our ultimate goal, but I’m extremely proud of these guys. They finished with a 24-6 record, made it to the Elite Eight and were the District 7-3A champs.”

O’Quinn said his thoughts turned to his seniors, who were part of a program that claimed three-straight division titles, made four-straight playoff runs along with a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and one Elite Eight showdown.

“We’re losing an exceptional group of seniors who helped take this program to another level,” O’Quinn added. “We’ll now be looking to our younger players to step into leadership roles and keep the momentum going for Franklin County basketball.”

In Saturday’s game, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 15-12 lead in the first quarter as Amarion Wilson worked underneath the rim to hit a trio of field goals and Michael Covington drained a trey.

In addition, Caleibria McDonald, Daylen Thomas and Derrick Wilson had a two-pointer each in the first eight minutes of regulation.

The Irish tied the game with less than five minutes remaining before intermission and eventually pulled ahead to a 25-22 advantage at the mid-game break.

Saint Patrick’s defense stymied FC’s scoring in the second period by limiting the Bulldogs to a pair of field goals by Amarion Wilson and Derrick Wilson.

Additionally, Franklin was 3-of-5 from the charity stripe with Amarion Wilson sinking two and Covington hitting 1-of-2.

The third quarter was bookended by Franklin County’s Kobe Marshall and Covington, who connected from beyond the arch to start and finish the frame, respectively.

Despite those big three-pointers, the Bulldogs came up on the short end of a 16-13 offensive scoring run by Saint Patrick.

Other FC players contributing two-point buckets in the period were McDonald, Marshall and Amarion Wilson.

Derrick Wilson went 1-of-2 from the line in the frame.

Trailing 41-35 to start the fourth quarter, McDonald hit a two-pointer and Marshall went 1-of-2 from the line within the first 40 seconds of the period to pull Franklin County to within three points of the lead.

The Irish drove to the rim on three occasions to retake a seven-point lead with roughly three minutes left to play in the contest.

Down the stretch, Marshall hit a three-pointer and two shots from the free throw line while McDonald was fouled in attempting a trey and hit two of his three shots from the stripe.

Thomas also made a two-pointer with 4.4 seconds remaining in the affair with Saint Patrick holding on for the win.

Amarion Wilson paced the Bulldogs with a team-high 12 points against the Fighting Irish with Marshall credited with 11 and McDonald had 10.

Also on the tally sheet for Franklin were Covington with seven, Derrick Wilson with five and Thomas with four.

The Dawgs finished 9-of-16 from the free throw line.

From the Franklin County stats sheet, McDonald finished the game with a team-high six rebounds, including five defensive boards.

Amarion Wilson had a pair of blocks and three rebounds — two of those defensive — for the Bulldogs.

Thomas accounted for a trio of offensive rebounds.

Marshall led FC with three assists against Saint Patrick and was also credited with two steals.