The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The Franklin High School girls’ basketball team played a strong first half in their February 7 game against The Pennington School. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that the Lady Warriors’ game fell apart in the second half, while the Red Hawks picked theirs up in their 49-40 win.
The Lady Warriors took an early lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of Red Hawks’ missed shots, leaving the frame with a 13-6 advantage.
The second quarter was much of the same, although the Red Hawks outscored the Lady Warriors, 13-12. But the teams went into the locker rooms at halftime with Franklin holding a 25-19 lead.
The third quarter saw Pennington hold the Lady Warriors to two points, while scoring 14, ending the frame with a 33-27 lead.
Pennington was able to boost that lead to as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Warriors fought back, cutting Pennington’s lead to four at various points.
The effort turned out to be too little too late as the Red Hawks increased their lead from the foul line.
Sophomore Precious Wheeler led Franklin scorers with 13 points, also racking up nine rebounds and six blocks.
Junior Iyanna Cotten contributed 11 points, seven rebounds and an assist.
Senior Alyssa Pecorella scored five points and had two rebounds and three assists.
Junior Morgan Lewis scored four points and had seven rebounds and a steal.
Junior Tiffany Pecorella scored three points and had a rebound and three assists.
Junior Leilani Mettle and Freshman Gianna Mattia scored two points each; Mettle also had a rebound and an assist.
With the loss, Franklin falls to 9-11 overall and 7-5 in the Skyland Conference.
The Lady Warriors were seeded 5th in the Somerset County Tournament. They received a bye in the first round, and will match up against 4th-seeded Hillsborough in the tournament’s second round on February 11, at home.
Here are some scenes from the game:
