Franklinton won both of its contests while Varnado went 0-2 in Thursday’s play with the Mandeville Summer Basketball League at Pelican Park.

The contests feature a pair of 20-minute halves with a running clock. At the 1-minute mark of each period the teams play under the standard timing rules of basketball. 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 league’s two Washington Parish teams, Franklinton and Varnado, competed against each other in the first contest Thursday in an up-tempo game that saw the Demons capture a 74-61 victory after pulling away late.

Varnado, trailed 40-31 at halftime and 43-31 at the beginning of the second half, but overcame the deficit to take the lead, 52-50, midway through the second half.

The lead changed hands twice, as the Wildcats were up, 54-53, with 8:09 remaining.

A minute later, Franklinton’s Azende T. Magee drove in for two, giving the Demons a 55-54 advantage.

That began a 12-0 run.

After Magee’s shot, Peter Williams, who posted 12 points, was good for two. Jadwynn Warren knocked down a 3-pointer, as did Darrius Dawson, and Franklinton’s lead was up to 63-54 at the 4:45 mark.

Warren tallied another field goal to make it an 11-point margin with 3:11 on the clock.

Damon Kirsch, who totaled 12 points, brought Varnado within nine with a jumper with 2:57 remaining, but Dawson found Azende O. Magee for three 20 seconds later, pushing the lead to 12, as the Demons went on for the 74-61 victory in the opener.

The game was close throughout an exciting first half.

Neither team had a lead bigger than three over the first 11:17 of the contest.

Franklinton was in front, 20-18, about halfway through the first period when Varnado’s D.J. Jefferson, who had 14, nailed a 3-pointer, giving the Wildcats a 21-20 lead.

But Franklinton’s T.Y. Pope converted a 3-point play with 8:43 left to put the Demons up once again.

Azende O. Magee, who posted 12 points, made it 25-21 with a 2-point free throw.

Varnado’s Andre Jones made it 25-23, but Williams began an 8-0 run for the Demons with a 3-pointer.

Tray Anders, who recorded 26 points, including four threes, was good from beyond the arc. Williams was successful on a field goal attempt and the Demons were up 33-23 with 4:46 left.

The run ended when Jones found Delrick Abrams for a layup, trimming it to 33-25. Abrams scored 21 points to lead Varnado.

They took a nine-point lead to the break, and Anders hit a three to begin the second half, making it a 12-point game.

Varnado came back and went in front, but the Demons pulled away for the win.

Franklinton followed up the win over Varnado with a 61-40 win over Lakeshore.

The Demons had to overcome a 15-7 deficit in the first half.

Anders led the Demons with 15 points while Warren posted 12 for the Demons.

Franklinton coach Randall Ginn, whose team is 4-0 in the league so far this summer, said it was another positive day.

“We did a good job against an athletic Varnado team. They outrebounded us and got some dunks on us, but that’s not our strength. I thought we did a good job in pace of play. We did a good job of running the lanes and pushing the ball up the floor. We used several kinds of pressure, but our man pressure was the most effective,” Ginn said.