WOODVILLE — The Franklin County Bulldogs earned a home playoff game thanks to Thursday night’s win over Wilkinson County in the District 7-3A tournament.
The Bulldogs came up with two big offensive rebounds off missed free throws to win 58-54 against the host Wildcats.
Jamie Collins scored 23 and pulled down 14 rebounds, but Tyler Washington and Michael Allen pulled down missed free throws during the final minute to get Franklin County back to the free throw line to maintain the lead.
“He moved around and did a little better job getting rebounds,” Franklin County head coach Chris Jordan said. “The last time we played they held him to three points in the first quarter and none the rest of the game.”
Washington’s rebound of Collins’ miss with a minute left, led to two more shots that extended the lead to four points at 55-51.
Collins didn’t have any problems on Thursday. He managed to slipped behind the defense, or get points on putbacks or even pick them up in transition off one of Wilkinson County’s 18 turnovers.
Wilkinson County’s Darius Knox hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds to pull the Wildcats to within one.
The Bulldogs were able to run the clock for 30 seconds until Wilkinson County fouled. Jarvis Hunt made his first shot, but missed on his second when Allen gathered the rebound and headed to the line with six seconds remaining.
Allen made both his free throws to put the Bulldogs back up four, 58-54.
Jason Hunt scored 14 for the Bulldogs, while Washington finished with 10, six that came in the fourth.
Franklin County will play Jefferson County in tonight’s championship game.
JEFFERSON COUNTY 62, AMITE COUNTY 46
Three quarters of neck and neck play with the No. 1 seed in District 7-3A only left a bitter taste in Amite County’s mouth when the Trojans weren’t able to keep up in the fourth quarter.
Amite County had the open shots, they came from the free throw line. They just didn’t go in.
The Trojans were 12-of-31 for the line as a team, while Jefferson County’s leading scorer, Percy Turner, made nine free throws in the fourth quarter alone.
“With all the emotion and intensity we lost our head,” Amite County head coach John Knight said. “You can’t win championships shooting like we did.”
Four minutes into the game, Amite County’s Stephon Patterson was upended going for a pass in the backcourt and fell hard to the floor.
Knight was whistled for a technical for his protests almost immediately. Patterson took a few minutes to get off the floor on his own power and he didn’t re-enter the game until close to halftime.
His return also marked a change on the defensive side for Amite County. They switched to the box and one on Turner, with Kendrick Causey following him all over the floor.
It kept Turner from making field goals, but in the second half he was able to get to the line.
The Tigers’ Shavika Gaines was called for a technical of his own in the third, which was part of a 10-0 Trojan run to get the game back to within one at 38-37.
Amite County will take on Wilkinson County in the consolation game tonight.
