Lady Bulldogs Tripped Up
Crockett Falls to Franklin, 63-51
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – The Crockett Lady Bulldogs welcomed the Franklin Lady Lions to the Andrew J. Hopkins Activity Center on Tuesday evening for their home opener in District 20-3A competition.
The game was close throughout as Crockett led after the first quarter and only trailed by one at halftime. Second-half shooting woes, however, doomed Crockett as they fell by a final score of 63-51.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the game by trying to work the ball inside. A’Nayah Wooten dropped in five for Crockett while Keaton Crabtree, La’Kyriah Hamilton and Chelsea Walker all had two apiece. Tocarra Johnson made one of two from the line to help stake the Lady Bulldogs to an early 12-10 lead.
Maggie Smitherman netted five, first quarter points for the Lady Lions while Hailey Fannin drained a three-pointer. Riley Caldwell and Kalin Ortner split the other two points to account for the Franklin first quarter point production.
The second quarter saw the pace quicken as both teams raced up-and-down the court. Johnson started to warm up in the paint as she put in six points. Wooten had another four while Tania Davis found the scoring column with four of her own. Hamilton closed out the first-half scoring for the Lady Bulldogs with two as Crockett trailed by one 29-28 when the horn sounded.
Caldwell paced Franklin in the second quarter with 10 points. Riley Hood found her range from behind the arc with a pair of threes while Ortner also connected from long-range.
Tania Davis
After the break, Hood caught fire for Franklin as she knocked down a trio of threes. Kamryn Carter got in on the act with a three of her own while three other Lady Lions- Caldwell, Ortner and Emma ReKieta – all had two as Franklin opened up a 47-41 lead after three were in the books.
Johnson knocked down seven for the Lady Bulldogs in the third while Davis had three. Wooten made a pair of free throws and Ty’Reyanna Beasley converted one of two from the line.
Try as they might, the Lady Bulldogs simply ran out of gas in the final period of play and could not make a comeback. Wooten dropped in four for Crockett in the final period of play while Hamilton had three and Johnson had two. Walker added a free throw but it was too little, too late as the Lady Bulldogs fell by a final score of 63-51.
Tocarra Johnson
On the game, Franklin was led by Riley Caldwell with a game-high 17 points. She was joined in double-figures by Riley Hood with 15. Kalin Ortner had eight, Maggie Smitherman had seven and Emma ReKieta went for six. Kamryn Carter and Hailey Fannin both had three while Kiara Coleman and Aubrie Hawkins had two apiece to round out the Lady Lions’ scoring.
Tocarra Johnson led the Lady Bulldogs with a team-high 16 points. A’Nayah Wooten was also in double-figures with 15. Both Tania Davis and La’Kyriah Hamilton had seven, Chelsea Walker had three, Keaton Crabtree chipped in a basket and Ty’Reyanna Beasley had one to close out the Crockett point production.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]