By Fletcher Keel:
South Warren 70 – Franklin-Simpson 66
The Lady Spartans had to fight from behind time and time again, but in the end, they were able to outlast the Lady Wildcats of Franklin-Simpson by edging the home team out 70-66 in overtime.
South Warren, while playing from behind for seemingly most of the night, actually never trailed at the end of a quarter. They ended two eight minute sessions tied and held the lead after two, but it took an extra four-minute period to decide this one.
In the opening stages of the game, the Spartans were unable to get any passes inside the lane, resulting in turnovers and points for Franklin-Simpson. Once the turnovers stopped, so did the easy points for the Wildcats.
Both the first and third quarters got off to rocky starts for the Lady Spartans, but they were able to re-gain their legs and do enough to come back, and ultimately, win the game.
Colby Downing was H-O-T hot from beyond the arc, hitting SEVEN three pointers on her way to a 28 point performance, which lead all scorers, although Franklin-Simpson’s Keely Morrow gave her a good run for her money, scoring 25.
Caroline Cowles and Amaya Lasley both scored in double figures as well for South Warren before fouling out in the overtime period.
South Warren will now get some time off until Tuesday, when they host Logan County.
South Warren 44 – Franklin-Simpson 54
It was another slow first-half start that doomed the South Warren Spartans as they fell by 10 at Franklin-Simpson to fall to 13-14 on the year.
The first half wasn’t a great one for the Spartans, as they didn’t get their first bucket to fall until there was 2:33 to play in the first quarter, in which time the Wildcats had already scored 12 to open the game. The Spartans offense was rushed and a lot of impatient shots were taken, resulting in easy boards for Franklin-Simpson.
The first half was also a foul-ridden one for the Spartans, as they put the Wildcats in the double bounus with well over 90 seconds to play.
The third quarter was a dominant one for the spartans, and saw them bring a halftime lead of 31-18 into a one-possession game at 34-32, but from that point on, it would be all Franklin-Simpson, and more specifically, all Tavin Lovan, as he scored all but nine Wildcat points in the second half.
For the fourth consecutive game, Dayton Gumm found his way to at least 20 points, as he lead all scorers with 22 and was the only Spartan to reach the double-digit plateau.
The Spartans will look to get back to their winning ways on Saturday as they’ll travel up to Ohio County.
