The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
It looked for a while that the Franklin High School Lady Warriors basketball team would exact some revenge February 27 on Watchung Hills, easing the pain of their previous two losses to the team.
But, reminiscent of these teams’ first meeting this season, Watchung Hills outscored Franklin in the final two frames of the game, the fourth quarter and overtime, to take a 51-47 win and advance to the finals of the Somerset County Tournament.
Franklin, the defending county champions, managed to eke out small leads at the end of the first three quarters, and, thanks to some timely foul shooting in the fourth, walk out with a tie and four more minutes to try to put together a win.
Franklin both lead and trailed by as many as six points during the game, leads and deficits that did not hold up.
With her team down by two, 42-44, with fewer than 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Lady Warrior Kyierah Dempsey-Toney sunk two foul shots for the tie, to the cheers of her teammates and Warrior faithful in the stands.
That score held for the final seconds, and it looked as though the Lady Warriors had the momentum to carry them through overtime.
But Watchung Hills, also known as the Warriors, put the pressure on in the overtime period, outscoring Franklin 7-3 to advance in the tournament.
Senior Guard Keona Schenck led her teammates with 14 points, followed by junior Dempsey-Toney with 12 and senior forward Onoseta Ufuah with 11.
Senior guard Kennady Schenck contributed six points, while junior guard Morgan Jones and freshman guard Gissell Gamble had two points each.
The reigning state Tournament of Champions Lady Warriors – ranked third in the tournament – start the campaign to defend their chip at 7 p.m. March 3, when they take on No. 14 Newark East Side at home.
Following are some scenes from the Feb. 27 game:
