Franklin-Simpson is starting to find its groove.
After knocking off then-undefeated Allen County-Scottsville last week, the Wildcats carried much momentum into Tuesday’s Region 4 contest at Greenwood and earned a hard-fought 47-42 win – their third in the last four games.
“It feels good to get in two in a row now,” Franklin-Simpson forward DeMarco Chatman said. “Last week we beat Allen County that was 6-0, and to come in here and beat (Greenwood) and get two in a row, it feels great.”
The Wildcats (3-4 overall) held a 14-10 lead after the opening quarter, were tied 24-all at halftime and trailed 36-35 entering the fourth. Franklin continued to battle throughout the final eight minutes and made big plays down the stretch to earn the victory over the Gators.
Chatman scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds, while Andreyous Miller finished with 10 points and Daveyon Harris added eight to round out the Franklin-Simpson stat sheet.
Ben Carroll led Greenwood (2-4) with 14 points, while Parker Williams scored seven.
The two sides played a competitive opening half.
While Franklin-Simpson jumped out to a 10-4 lead at the 4:21 mark of the first quarter, Greenwood rallied back to trail by just four at 14-10 after one. The Gators carried their momentum over to the second and soon found their offensive rhythm.
Behind back-to-back threes from Isaac Stansbury, Greenwood began to match the Wildcats’ offensive efforts – which involved a handful of Chatman buckets inside the paint – and sent the game into halftime with the scoreboard knotted at 24-all.
“We’ve just gotta understand good shots and bad shots,” Franklin-Simpson coach Dee Spencer said. “I thought Greenwood did a good job with its defense making us take some bad shots. We got into the paint an awful lot, we’ve just gotta finish around the basket.”
Carroll was leading the Gators with eight points at the break, while Miller and Chatman had each scored eight for Franklin-Simpson.
The contest remained a back-and-forth affair throughout the second half.
Noah Stansbury’s three midway through the third quarter gave Greenwood a 27-26 lead, but just before Chatman scored inside to put Franklin-Simpson back in front at 28-27. Carroll responded with a free throw – followed by a converted and-one – to give the Gators a 31-28 lead at the 4:34 mark.
“He’s our guy. He’s our guy that can get into the paint and create shots for others,” Spencer said of Chatman. “He’s doing what he’s asked to do.”
Chatman’s triple from the left wing with just over two minutes left in the third cut Greenwood’s advantage to 33-32. Soon after, the Gators responded with an and-one from Cade Stinnett to make it 36-34 – and they soon took a tight 36-35 lead into the final quarter.
Dayveon Harris’ basket with just over four minutes remaining triggered another lead change, as Franklin-Simpson jumped back in front at 39-38. Following the same flow, Noah Stansbury fired back with a left-corner three to give Greenwood a 41-39 lead with 3:36 left.
“They just outhustled us and deserved to win,” Greenwood coach Bob Pels said. “We were disappointed with the energy level. When you really don’t have a ton out there (with Carroll in foul trouble and leading scorer Jack Roberts sidelined with a broken hand), you’ve just gotta work as hard as you can. You just can’t win many games with 42 points.”
Things remained tight down the stretch as Jevon Covington’s drive and score made it 43-41 in the Wildcats’ favor with 1:16 left. Down by two, Greenwood had a chance to tie or take the lead, but Franklin-Simpson defended the possession well, forced a missed shot, grabbed the rebound and was quickly fouled.
Miller then knocked down the pair of free throws to put Wildcats up 45-41 and seal it.
Both teams return to action Thursday as Franklin-Simpson meets Webster County at 1:15 p.m. in the Limestone Bank Christmas Classic at Butler County and Greenwood takes on Hart County at 12:45 p.m. in the Rafferty’s Caveland Classic at Edmonson County.
Franklin-Simpson – 14 10 11 12 – 47
Greenwood – 10 14 12 6 – 42
FSHS – DeMarco Chatman 16, Andreyous Miller 10, Dayveon Harris 8, Jevon Covington 6, Tedric Partinger 3, Dawson Knight 2, Carlos McKinney 1.
GHS – Ben Carroll 14, Parker Williams 7, Noah Stansbury 6, Isaac Stansbury 6, Chandler Wilson 4, Cade Stinnett 3, Peyton Loggins 2.
Lady Gators roll past Lady Wildcats, 62-17
The Greenwood girls’ basketball team put together its best performance of the season on Tuesday and rolled to a 62-17 win over Franklin-Simpson at Greenwood High School.
Greenwood (2-5 overall) earned a 15-point performance from Megan Une – who had scored just 12 points entering the night – and dominated from start to finish. The Lady Gators led by seven at 13-6 after the opening quarter and quickly built a 32-10 lead at halftime. From there, they continued to execute and never allowed Franklin-Simpson to get into a rhythm.
“It was really good, especially because we’ve kind of been on a losing streak,” Une said of the win. “For us to come out and really show teams that we can actually play, I thought that was good. We’re a good shooting team, but lately we haven’t been able to get shots up because of pressure. I thought tonight we had a lot of confidence and we knew that we could shoot – so we just shot the ball.”
Along with Une’s big outing, KK Keener finished with 12 points, while Nicole Milam scored 10 and Jacqueline Jackson added seven. Greenwood knocked down seven three-pointers and forced over 15 turnovers on the defensive end.
Hadley Turner carried Franklin-Simpson (2-6) with 11 points.
Greenwood controlled things from the start.
Taking a 13-6 lead into the second quarter, the Lady Gators soon pushed their advantage to 20-6 at the 4:48 mark and later took a commanding 32-10 lead into the locker room at the break. Une was already up to 10 points after 16 minutes of action.
By outscoring Franklin-Simpson 20-3 in the third, Greenwood extended its lead to 52-13 entering the fourth and was able to cruise through the final eight minutes and earn a dominant victory.
Both teams return to action Thursday in the Raffety’s Caveland Classic at Edmonson County. The Lady Gators will take on Hart County at 11 a.m., while the Lady Wildcats meet the host at 6 p.m.
“I want to see us take some confidence into the tournament,” Greenwood coach Zach Simpson said. “I want to see us go in there with a will to win, and I want to see us go in there with confidence offensively. I want them to go in there and play together, play as a team and go in and just take care of business.”
Franklin-Simpson – 6 4 3 4 – 17
Greenwood – 13 19 20 10 – 62
FSHS – Hadley Turner 11, Kate Norwood 2, Lauren Johnson 2, Erica Stradtner 2.
GHS – Megan Une 15, KK Keener 12, Nicole Milam 10, Leia Trinh 7, Jacqueline Jackson 7, Carly Miller 4, Rachel Evans 3, Honest Blewett 2.
