Lady Dawgs seize pair of pre-holiday wins at home

Franklin County’s varsity girls basketball team picked up a pair of pre-holiday victories by downing Natchez, 53-26, and upending Lawrence County, 42-24, last week.

Those victories lifted the Lady Bulldogs to a 7-5 mark headed into the Christmas break and ahead of the start of district play in January.

FC 53, NATCHEZ 26

Franklin County outscored visiting Natchez in all four quarters of their showdown on Friday, Dec. 16 in Meadville. The home team went on runs of 15-8 and 11-8 in the first and second quarters, respectively,

From there, FC outscored its opponent, 10-4, in the third frame and, 17-6, in the final eight minutes of regulation.

Three players finished their efforts in double figures with Niyla Wright collecting a team-high 14 points with all but four of those coming after intermission.

Wright chipped in five field goals while going 4-of-8 from the free throw line.

In addition, Ja’Kya Brown and DeAsia Buie combined for 11 points apiece for Franklin County with Brown draining a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter, a single field goal in the first and third quarters along with a 1-of-6 effort from the charity stripe.

Buie was credited with five two-pointers – three in the first quarter and two in the second half – along with a 1-of-2 showing from the line.

Others appearing on the final tally sheet for FC included Harmoni Porter, seven points; Kennedi Washington, five; Arya Williams, three (a shot from outside the arch); and Da’Shara Hannon, two.

In terms of free throws, Porter went 1-of-3, Washington was 1-of-4 and Hannon was 0-of-1.

FC 42, LAWRENCE

COUNTY 24

The Lady Bulldogs led from start to finish in a showdown held on Tuesday, Dec. 13 in Meadville and walked away with a 42-24 win over the Lady Cougars.

FC led 23-9 at the mid-game break by rolling past the visiting team 13-1 in the first quarter and 10-8 during the second eight-minutes of regulation.

Lawrence County showed some offensive spark in the third quarter by outscoring the Lady Dawgs, 10-9, but FC charged back with a 10-5 run in the fourth quarter.

Buie led Franklin County with a team-high 14 points – all of which came in the first half. She put in a trio of field goals in the initial frame before scoring three more two-pointers in the second quarter along with a 2-of-4 performance at the free throw line.

Wright — as had been the case against Natchez — came on strong in the second half by collecting all but four of her 12 points coming after the mid-game break.

She also went 2-of-4 from the stripe in the second half.

Brown’s 11 points were spread throughout the affair with a two-pointer and a 3-of-6 free throw shooting demonstration in the first quarter, and six points through the latter half of the game.

Raine Edmond and Washington chipped in two points apiece with Williams getting a single point on a 1-of-2 finish at the stripe.

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JUNIOR VARSITY GIRLS

NATCHEZ 17, FC 10

Visiting Natchez opened a 12-4 bulge against Franklin County’s junior varsity girls basketball team on Friday, Dec. 16, before the home team rallied in the second half with a 6-5 run, which was still not enough to overcome that early deficit.

Down the stretch, Natchez held on for the 17-10 win.

FC’s Teearlynn Faust paced her team with six points while Zakiyah Middleton and Jessany Harness tacked on two points apiece.

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UPCOMING GAMES

Franklin County’s varsity girls basketball team will retake the court on Tuesday, Jan. 3 and will travel for their district opener against Port Gibson.

The Lady Bulldogs will then play three-straight district games at home — on Friday, Jan. 6 against Wilkinson County, on Tuesday, Jan. 10 vs. Wesson and on Friday, Jan. 13 against Hazlehurst.