MEADVILLE — Paige Webster’s 21 points and some outstanding defense landed the Lady Bulldogs their fifth straight South State tournament appearance Tuesday night, as Franklin County eliminated Greene County 70-45 in the Class 3A opening round.
In the boys game, Greene County shocked the Bulldogs 38-37, behind 14 points and four steals from guard Toronta Lockhart.
The Lady Bulldogs (24-9) will play Collins Thursday night at Raymond in the Class 3A South State tournament.
“Everybody’s good now,” Franklin County head basketball coach Charles Moore said about moving on to South State. “We’ve got to play a lot better than we did tonight, that’s for sure.”
Franklin County roared to a 36-16 halftime lead and never looked back. The Lady Bulldogs opened up the second half with a 12-0 run to take a 48-16 lead four minutes into the third quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs substituted freely in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand. Moore played every member of his team who dressed out.
Paige Webster, a junior forward had 21 points and eight rebounds for Franklin County. Charlesia Houston and Monique Starks added 10 points each. Senior Monea Cameron had six assists and three steals.
For Greene County (13-13), senior Shonica Blackston had a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds.
As for Moore and his Lady Bulldogs, in six seasons as head coach he is 5-0 in first round games.
In the boys game, the Bulldogs (11-22) could not withstand a fast and furious Greene County team that played havoc with Franklin County’s offense all night long.
Coached by Marty Noblitt, Greene County (15-13) forced the Bulldogs into 12 first half turnovers, the Wildcats led 20-16 at intermission.
Franklin County 6-foot,5-inch swingman Jamie Collins spent most of the second quarter on the bench, due to foul trouble. He committed three early fouls.
Franklin County responded with a fourth quarter outburst from senior Jason Hunt. The senior guard scored six of his 10 points in the frame, which gave Franklin County a 35-33 lead with 1:01 remaining.
Greene County guard Toronta Lockhart scored a game-tying layup on the next possession and added an inbounds steal next, scoring with 0:49 remaining to give Greene County a 37-35 lead. A free throw extended the lead to 38-35 with 10 seconds remaining.
Franklin County still had one last chance at tying the game, but junior Taylor Washington crossed the 3-point line as he connected on a acrobatic two-point shot with 2.1 seconds remaining. Greene County ran out the rest of the clock on the next possession to savor the come-from-behind victory.
The Bulldogs were led by Collins with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in the losing effort.
Columbia 77, Amite County 49
The second and third quarters kept the Trojan boys from advancing out of the opening round on Tuesday.
Columbia outscored Amite County 41-14 in those 16 minutes.
Amite County was led by Justin Patterson and Stephon Patterson, who each scored eight points.
Columbia 53, Amite County 29
Jacquillis Monroe scored 15 points for the Amite County girls, but that was half of the Lady Trojans total in their opening round loss.
