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New Franklin presses past Fayette in 2nd half

Loss marks second in a row for Fayette after leading at halftime

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 12/8/22

A strong second-half performance by New Franklin gave the Lady Bulldogs their fifth win on Tuesday, 53-42, at Fayette. 

For the Lady Falcons, it was their second straight loss after leading …

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New Franklin presses past Fayette in 2nd half

Loss marks second in a row for Fayette after leading at halftime

Posted

A strong second-half performance by New Franklin gave the Lady Bulldogs their fifth win on Tuesday, 53-42, at Fayette. 

For the Lady Falcons, it was their second straight loss after leading at halftime. On Saturday, December 3, Fayette fell apart in the final two quarters against Marceline in the third-place game of the Glasgow Tournament.

“I thought we had a really good showing the last couple of games for a couple of quarters,” said Fayette coach Daryl Betts. “I think the momentum gets us. But when it slips, we don’t know how to handle it. We'll get there.”

Fayette jumped ahead early in the first quarter on 1-for-3 free throw shooting. But the Falcons would only score one field goal in the first period, with five of their seven points coming from the line. New Franklin fared little better, scoring four of its nine first-quarter points from the line. The Lady Bulldogs had one two-point field goal by senior Emma Rice under the basket and a 3-pointer by sophomore Brynn Belstle to tie the game midway through the period.

The scoring picked up in the second quarter, with the Falcons outpointing New Franklin 17-11 to take a 24-20 lead into the break. After trading baskets over the first few minutes of the period, Fayette went on an 8-3 run to pull ahead 19-16. The Bulldogs tied the game less than a minute later with a three-point play on a layup and free throw by freshman Lily Chitwood.

The Lady Falcons were able to outscore New Franklin 5-1 in the final minutes of the half to take a four-point lead at the break.

Once again, the second half doomed Fayette. The Falcons scored first in the third quarter but struggled mightily against New Franklin’s press.

“We did really well with our press. It’s the first time we’ve used it this season. I thought it looked really good. They did struggle against it,” said New Franklin coach Morgan Grosse.

New Franklin marched back with eight straight points to tie the game at 28-28. Then Chitwood put the Lady Bulldogs in front for good with a 3-pointer at the 2:25 mark.

Fayette would cut the score to as close as five points fourth quarter, but New Franklin continued to score. The Bulldogs sank five of eight free throws in the final 50 seconds to clinch the win.

“I always remind them, no matter what year or what team, it’s hard to play here,” Grosse said. “It’s a very tough environment. At halftime, we made a few adjustments. In the second half, I thought we really calmed down and played the way we really can.”

Carly Dorson once again led the Bulldogs in scoring with a game-high 18 points. The senior is still reeling somewhat from a turned ankle suffered in the first game of the Glasow tournament, although she showed little signs of struggle, with five field goals and 7-for-11 shooting from the line.  Chitwood finished with 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the line with one 3-pointer.

Junior Kay Sullivan led nine Fayette players in the scorebook with 10 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Senior Preslee Sunderland picked up seven points. Senior Hannah Quint tallied six, while Lasaydra Jackman finished with five, including a 3-pointer to bring her team within five points with 3:15 left to play.

The Lady Falcons are scheduled to face Class 3 Brookfield (5-1) for Fayette’s Courtwarming on Friday. They then face two dominant area teams, undefeated Cairo on December 12, and 5-1 Harrisburg in the season’s first Lewis & Clark Conference game on December 13. Fayette will travel to Slater on December 15 before closing out the 2022 portion of the season at Scotland County on December 19.

New Franklin improves to 5-1 on the season, with the only blemish coming against powerhouse Cairo in the championship game of the Glasgow Tournament the Saturday prior.

“We’re 5-1, and we haven’t been that for a long time,” Grosse said. “The loss to Cairo, while it hurt, we were in a championship game. We took a lot from that. I don’t think that brought us down. We really like what we are seeing right now.”

The Lady Bulldogs open a four-game stretch to close out 2022 on Friday at Madison. Their only home game before the end of the year will be against Slater on December 13. New Franklin closes out 2022 on the road at Tuscumbia on December 15 and Stover on December 19.



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