Defense keys Franklinton in wins

Published 9:20 am Monday, June 9, 2014

Franklinton High School captured both games in the Northshore Summer Basketball League Tuesday at Pelican Park in Mandeville.

The league features rules, which keeps the game moving. Teams play a pair of 20-minute halves with a running clock until the 1-minute mark of each period and then they played under the standard timing rules.

If a player is fouled in the act of shooting, they get one free throw, which counts for whatever the shot was worth. If they hit the bucket and get fouled, the free throw is the standard one point.

The opener was a 71-35 victory over Lakeshore.

Both offenses came out firing on all cylinders in an up-tempo contest and Franklinton (4-2) had a 10-9 lead just 4:59 in after the Titans ran off five straight.

The Demons then ran off seven straight with Ryche Jenkins hitting for two, Nick Burkhalter knocking down a three and Jenkins adding two more to make it 17-9 at the 13:48 mark of the first half.

LHS scored to make it 17-11, but FHS began pulling away with a 5-0 run.

Burkhalter gave to Tray Anders, who hit a 3-pointer and then Jenkins was good for two more.

Franklinton was doubling up Lakeshore 22-11 with 12:55 remaining.

The Demons continued adding to their lead and took a 41-21 advantage into halftime.

In the second half, Lakeshore hung with the Demons over the first eight minutes, as FHS added just two points to the margin. It was 56-31 when the Titans hit a bucket with 12:19 left.

Then the Demons’ defense took over in a big way. Franklinton nearly held Lakeshore scoreless for the rest of the game, but the Titans ended a 12:18 scoring drought by hitting a field goal at the buzzer for the 71-35 final.

“We were so much faster than Lakeshore was early and that’s what got us out to the lead,” Franklinton coach Randall Ginn said. “It wasn’t like our calls, our precision was any better than theirs. We just got out on the break, didn’t run any offense and just kind of ran up-and-down the court, but it was nice to see when the youngs got in the game in the second half, how long we held them without scoring. A lot of times, that was our JV holding their varsity without scoring.”

Tray Anders led Franklinton with 17 points against Lakeshore, while Burkhalter put up nine. Quincy Stewart scored eight, followed by Jenkins and Azende T. Magee, who both finished with six.

Franklinton won the second game over Mandeville High 43-35.

The schedule got changed around for several teams due to one not showing up, so Mandeville played its junior varsity for the first eight minutes before getting its varsity in at about the 12-minute mark.

The Demons got off and running, jumping out to a 12-0 lead with 12:17 left.

Azende O. Magee found Anders to open the scoring. Azende T. Magee then hit a fastbreak layup before Burkhalter hit Anders for two more and it was 6-0.

Burkhalter was good for two and then Anders passed to Jenkins for the bucket and Jadwyn Warren added two more for a 12-0 advantage with 12:17 remaining.

Both offenses struggled for the rest of the half, which allowed Mandeville to run off six straight to make it 12-6 with 4:43 left.

Born Smith hit a shot from the baseline and then MHS was good for three. It was 14-9 with 2:25 remaining.

The margin stayed at five until halftime, as Franklinton High School led 16-11 at the break.

Mandeville continued to get closer in the second half.

The Skippers trimmed the margin to 29-26 with 7:29 left with a 3-pointer, but Burkhalter answered the trey with one of his own. His bucket from beyond the arc seemed to spark the Demons, who ran off 10 straight with Burkhalter’s 3-pointer igniting the run.

Anders hit for three on the next trip before

Azende T. Magee was good for two, as was Stewart to make it 39-26 at the 5:25 mark of the second half.

Mandeville answered with seven in a row to make it 39-33, but Azende T. Magee was good on a layup with 1:33 showing.

From there, the Demons’ lead was never in jeopardy, as Franklinton won by eight 43-35.

Franklinton High School coach Ginn said his team executed with a lot of precision in the second half against Mandeville.

“I thought the second half against Mandeville’s varsity, we ran our stuff,” Ginn said. “We played good defense, they hit a couple of threes on us, but we ran our stuff on offense.”

Like the first game, Anders led Franklinton, this time scoring 12 points.

Burkhalter put up seven, while Azende T. Magee finished with six and Stewart added five.

The Demons return to action in the Northshore Summer Basketball League Monday

They play against Mandeville and Covington at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively back at Pelican Park.