Franklinton’s Lady Demons went toe-to-toe with Salmen, the No. 10 team in Class 4A in the unofficial LHSAA power rankings, but came up short in a 51-50 loss in the District 8-4A contest at home Tuesday.
The Lady Demons committed a number of turnovers in the first matchup between the two teams, which Salmen won 72-47 after a strong second half.
This time, the Lady Demons did a much better job against Salmen’s quick, trapping defense. The turnovers were down and Franklinton did not trail until late in the first half.
“We did turn the ball over more than I wanted to, but they played better (than the first game against Salmen),” Franklinton coach Elecia Crain said. “The shots fell more, we rebounded better, but the biggest thing was the elimination of the turnovers.”
Crain said Salmen’s defense is a good defense to go up against.
“In practice, I told my girls to never get trapped in a corner because then you can’t see the court,” Crain said. “So if we bring the ball up the middle of the court then we weren’t able to get trapped. So that was a help as far as this time, not to get trapped in the corners and bringing the ball up the middle of the court.”
Salmen led 26-22 at the break and the contest was up for grabs until the final moments.
Franklinton’s biggest lead was 17-9, which was with 5:51 left in the first half. Salmen’s was 37-30, which happened with 3:48 left in the third period. In each case, the trailing team kept coming back.
Salmen had a 40-38 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth, Franklinton trailed 46-43 when Jada Thompson buried a 3-pointer from the left corner to tie the game at 46-46 with 2:42 left.
The Lady Demons retook the lead 30 seconds later when Thompson connected with Danaria Magee for a layup.
But Salmen’s Ashante Eden, who had a game-high 27 points, split from the line to make it a one-point game. The Lady Spartans went back in front on a pass from Eden to Arie Cooks that resulted in a layup. It was 49-48 with 38 seconds left.
The Lady Demons were unable to score on their next possession and Eden hit a bucket and got fouled. She missed the free throw, but did extend the lead to 51-48 with 27.7 seconds left.
The game went down to the wire. The Lady Demons had a couple of attempts to tie the contest, but were unable to hit. The final bucket was on a rushed layup at the buzzer.
Crain was upbeat about the Lady Demons’ play against a tough team.
“(To lose) 50-51 against Salmen with a team that’s ranked No. 10 in the state for 4A — that’s a win. That’s a win for me,” Crain said.
Kaniya Dillon led Franklinton with 13 points, as the Lady Demons had balanced scoring.
Jada Thompson scored 12 points while Danaria Magee tallied 10. Thompson’s points all came on 3-pointers.
India Dickerson posted seven points, while Hayle Davidson recorded six and Jayln Bickham added one. Dickerson hit a 3-pointer.
The Lady Demons are 13-15 overall and 5-4 in district play. Franklinton is 31st in the unofficial LHSAA power ranking for Class 4A.
Salmen’s Jaylen Huderson finished with seven points while Allie Batiste posted five. Breion Smith had four and Arie Cooks, Jayla Faciane, Jaellin Sannicolas and Darreon Pratt all added two.
Batiste and Smith had a 3-pointer each.
Salmen is 19-10 overall and 8-1 in district.