Lady Bulldogs Stumble in Tourney Opener

Crockett Falls to Franklin, 62-23

By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – The Crockett Lady Bulldogs welcomed five teams to the Andrew J. Hopkins Activity Center as the 2018 Crockett Thanksgiving Classic tipped off bright and early on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 15.

The first game of the round-robin style tournament featured the Lady Bulldogs taking on the Franklin Lady Lions. It may have been the 8 a.m. start, but the Lady Bulldogs came out flat as they fell behind the Lady Lions early in the game and never could find a rhythm and eventually fell to Franklin by a final score of 62-23.

Crockett only managed four points in the first eight minutes of play on baskets by Jaida Lockhart and Tynaisha McKnight.

The Lady Lions, on the other hand, poured in 19 to take a commanding 15 point lead after the first eight minutes of play. Jessie Metcalf paced Franklin with 11 points while Megan McCarver dropped in five and Tiana Wade had three.

The second quarter didn’t get much better for the Lady Bulldogs as they were held to four points, yet again. This time it was Katelin Holmes and J. Tryon who split the four.

Franklin continued to pull away as they dropped another 15 on Crockett to make the halftime score 34-8. Metcalf added five more while Ciara Wade and Larissa Mendoza chipped in three apiece. Both McCarver and Tiana Wade added two.

The Lady Bulldogs found a little spark in the third quarter as their offense began to click. Lockhart and Alinjah McKnight had four apiece, while Holmes added three. Both T. McKnight and Keaton Crabtree added free throws to account for the Crockett offense in the third quarter.

While the Crockett offense picked up the pace in the third quarter so did Franklin’s.  Mya Booker dropped in 10 and McCarver had five. Rayshawn Young made a three as C. Wade, T. Wade and Madi O’Rand had two each to push the lead out to 58-21.

The fourth quarter was just plain ugly as a total six total points were scored – two by Crockett’s Lockhart and two apiece for Franklin’s Booker and Darby Hughes – to end the game with a score of 62-23, in favor of Franklin.

The Lady Bulldogs were led in scoring by Jaida Lockhart with eight points and Katelin Holmes with five. Alinjah McKnight had four, Tynaisha McKnight had three, J. Tryon added two and Keaton Crabtree had one.

Franklin was led by three players in double figures. Jessie Metcalf had 16, Megan McCarver had 12 and Mya Booker added 10. Tiana Wade netted seven while both Larissa Mendoza and Ciara Wade dropped in five apiece. Rayshawn Young had three as both Darby Hughes and Madi O’Rand had two apiece.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].