Lady Dawgs drop 45-30 heartbreaker to Booneville in 3A Final Four contest

By Sean Dunlap

Franklin Advocate

JACKSON — The Franklin County High School varsity girls basketball team's post-season run came to an end Wednesday, March 2 as the Lady Dawgs fell to Booneville, 45-30, in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 3A Final Four contest.

"In starting the game, we came out and did the things we needed to do and stuck to our plan," FCHS Head Basketball Coach Rickey Van O'Quinn said following the contest played at the Mississippi Coliseum — also known as the "Big House" — in the state's capitol city. "We had a pretty good idea about what they were going to do initially, and I thought we played well defensively even though we made some mistakes in that first half.

"I think that in the third quarter, (Booneville) made some adjustments and figured out where we were going especially on defense. They did a good job of moving the ball around and finding shooters. We really didn't seem to adjust well and really didn't get the rebounds that we needed especially in the second half and that led to second-chance points for Booneville."

Still, O'Quinn said he was proud of the way his girls made their way into the playoffs with a strong run in the second half of their regular-season campaign and throughout the post-season.

"This group had the second-longest winning streak in school history, and in starting the season a lot of people didn't think we would even be here," he continued. "We have a really young bunch — with two great seniors — so I think everyone's excited for what the future holds for this program."

FC held a 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter with JaKya Brown dropping in a pair of field goals and Ja'Sharreah Hunt, Rylei Turner, D'Asia and Kennedy Washington all scored a two-pointer each in the frame to five the Lady Dawgs the early advantage.

Franklin was able to widen its lead to as many as five points with 2:49 left to play in the second quarter, but Booneville charged back late to cut their deficit to two points — 22 to 20 — at the mid-game break.

Brown and Turner hit back-to-back treys about midway through the second frame to boost the Lady Dawgs while Hunt connected on 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Turner was also 1-of-2 from the line in the second eight-minute window.

Franklin County was 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) in terms of field goal shooting in the first half of the contest while going 2-of-5 (40 percent) on shots from beyond the arch. The Lady Dawgs hit 4-of-6 free throws in the initial 16 minutes of the playoff affair.

After the intermission, the momentum of the game shifted as the Lady Blue Devils reeled off two-straight three pointers from Taitiana Beene and Ava Kathryn Smith in the first two minutes of the third quarter to take a 26-22 lead over Franklin.

Hunt responded with a field goal at the 6:32 mark to pull FC back to within two points of the lead, 26-24.

Booneville's Smith drained a two-pointer, Kylee Johnson dropped in a three-pointer and Beene hit two free throws in the final four-plus minutes of the third quarter to help the Lady Blue Devils move out to a 33-27 advantage.

When the dust settled, Booneville dominated Franklin with 13-5 offensive run during the cycle.

FC's only other points in the third frame came from Hunt on a two-pointer that fell despite her being fouled and then she hit the bonus shot opportunity.

The Lady Dawgs scored on three points in the fourth quarter — a bucket by Hunt and a single free throw by Brown — while Booneville's offensive onslaught continued with 12 key points.

The second half saw Franklin's offensive numbers turn ice cold as the Lady Bulldogs hit 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) of its field goal attempts and failed to connect on six second-half three-point tries. Additionally, FC was 2-of-4 in third and fourth quarters free-throw tries.

The Lady Dawgs were led by Hunt, who scored a team-high 12 points before she fouled out of the game with 1:23 left to play in regulation. Brown added 12 in the effort while Turner finished with six and Buie and Washington were credited with two each.

On the stat sheet, Hunt led the team with three assists while collecting a block and two steals.

Brown paced FC with three steals and had two assists, and Niyla Wright finished with an assist and two blocks.

Turner recorded a team-high six blocks against Booneville and also had a steal.

Buie and Harmoni Porter both were credited with a block and a steal while Washington had one steal.

In terms of rebounds, Franklin accounted for 23 in the entire game — five offensive and 18 defensive boards. Both Wright and Buie paced their team with six boards with Wright's being all defensive and Buie having four on offense and two on defense.

Hunt and Turner had four defensive rebounds apiece while Brown and Washington each had one defensive board.

Wednesday's loss snapped an 18-game winning streak for the Lady Bulldogs that dated back to mid-December and ended their season with a 26-5 mark. Booneville, who advances to Saturday's title tilt in Jackson, improved to 28-2 on their season.