FRANKLIN – After struggling for three quarters, Warren East senior forward Tashawn Neal came alive just in time in the Raiders’ 48-45 victory at Franklin-Simpson on Tuesday.

Neal scored 10 of his 13 points in the final period to help Warren East (16-11) rally from an eight-point deficit, spoiling senior night for the Wildcats.

“I was getting frustrated and that led me to not getting shots,” Neal said. “At timeouts the coaches were like. ‘We need you. You are a senior.’ I was thinking this game and Thursday are my last two regular-season games and I wanted to go out with a win.”

The Wildcats controlled the game for the first three quarters, until Neal sparked a late kick for Warren East.

Franklin-Simpson (6-20) led for most of the first quarter, then extended the margin to 15-9 after a 3-pointer from Andreyous Miller early in the second period.

Warren East scored eight straight to take the lead, but the Wildcats scored six of the last eight points in the quarter to regain a 21-19 halftime advantage.

Neal opened the third period with a 3 to give the Raiders the lead and Warren East maintained that edge for most of the quarter before the Wildcats closed with a 13-2 run to pull ahead 38-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams exchanged baskets in the first two minutes of the fourth before a 3 from Warren East’s Brevon Whitney trimmed the deficit to 42-37.

A layup by Franklin-Simpson’s Chase Gooch pushed the margin back to seven, but the Raiders answered with seven straight – tying the score 44-all on two Neal free throws with 3:21 remaining.

Miller gave the Wildcats the lead back with a free throw with 1:43 left before Neal hit a baseline jumper with 59 seconds remaining to give Warren East the 46-45 lead.

Franklin-Simpson had two possessions with the chance to take the lead in the last 42 seconds, but turned it over both times.

Neal sank two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to push the lead to three, giving the Wildcats one more chance to tie, but Neal intercepted the full-court pass and ran the clock out to help Warren East preserve the win.

“We are a good defensive team if we sit down and play fundamental and do our job,” Neal said. “That’s what we did.”

Whitney led Warren East with 17 points, while Thomas Maxey added 10 points for the Raiders.

“We are short-handed and sick,” Warren East coach Brandon Combs said. “It was nice to get a win, especially on the road, this time of year because you want to be playing your best. I thought we made some adjustments and the kids stuck with them. This is a tough place to play and we were lucky to get out of here with the win, especially on senior night.”

Dee Ragland led Franklin-Simpson with 11 points.

“The turnovers weren’t the problem,” Franklin coach Dee Spencer said. “It was missing them right there at the basket in the fourth quarter. I know we missed at least four or five uncontested layups. That is the difference in the game.

“We have to make layups. Free throws and layups all year – that has been our nemesis and it bit us in the butt again tonight.”

Both teams close out the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Warren East will host Monroe County, while Franklin-Simpson will play at Glasgow.

WEHS 6 13 11 18 – 48

FSHS 8 13 17 7 – 45

WE – Whitney 17, Neal 13, Maxey 10, Perdue 7, Wallace 1.

FS – Ragland 11, Harris 8, Gilbert 8, Rickman 7, Gooch 5, Miller 4, Thompson 2.

Girls

Warren East 55, Franklin-Simpson 41

The Lady Raiders overcame a slow start to pull away for their 17th win of the season, matching the most for the program in one season since 2007-08.

Franklin-Simpson (5-24) jumped out to a 10-5 advantage and led 13-9 early in the second quarter before Warren East (17-12) closed the half with a 15-3 run to make the score 24-16.

The Lady Raiders led by as much as 23 in the second half before resting their starters for most of the final quarter.

Cressida Duncan led the way with 17 points. Caitlin Howard finished with 15 points, while Caroline Forrester added eight points and seven rebounds.

“We did start out a little slow,” Warren East coach Orlando Hayden said. “We are doing stuff that we are working on for the district (tournament), so it’s all different for us right now. We are trying a bunch of things.

“We know if we happen to get out of the district we are going to need some of the younger players, especially if we get in foul trouble. We are trying to get as much experience and a rotation with our subs.”

Christina Carver had 13 points for the Lady Cats, while Alera Barbee added 11 points and Kate Norwood finished with 10 points.

Both teams will close out the regular season at 6 p.m. Thursday. Warren East will host Monroe County, while Franklin-Simpson will play at Glasgow.

WEHS 9 15 22 9 – 55

FSHS 10 6 10 15 – 41

WE – Duncan 17, Howard 15, Forrester 8, H. Blankenship 5, Hymer 4, Hix 2, Price 2, Patterson 1, Sparks 1.

FS – Carver 13, Barbee 11, Norwood 10, McCutchen 5, Link 2.{&end}