Lady Wildcats prevail in double overtime against Trojanettes

Published 2:14 am Wednesday, February 5, 2025

By Jeff Nations

GLASGOW – In a matchup of two of Region 4’s top girls’ basketball teams, Franklin-Simpson and host Barren County certainly put on a show Tuesday night.

The visiting Lady Wildcats fell behind by double digits in the first half, surged back in the second half and then withstood a pair of overtime periods to claim a hard-earned 55-49 double-overtime victory.

If this was a preview of a potential Region 4 Tournament matchup, the rematch could be epic. Franklin-Simpson (19-2), the top team out of District 13, found itself on the ropes early against District 15-leading Barren County (20-3).

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The Trojanettes put together a 12-0 run in the second quarter that included a pair of 3-pointers from Anne Ashley Atkinson, to grab a 27-17 lead.

LaReesha Cawthorn’s short banked jumper ended the spurt and made the Lady Wildcats’ deficit single digits at 27-19 at halftime.

“They’re a well-oiled machine – they’re going to do what they do,” Franklin-Simpson coach Ashley Taylor said of Barren County. “I thought that they had great execution of their game plan. We didn’t come out and execute very well. I thought we were just a little lackadaisical to start the game, kind of just no pop about us.

“But finding a way to win when you don’t play well is a skill that your team has to have.”

Barren County maintained most of its lead through the first few minutes of the third quarter before leading scorer Shelby Byrd headed to the bench with foul trouble. The Trojanettes’ offense dried up and Franklin-Simpson put together a 10-0 run to end the third with a 35-33 lead.

Cawthorn, a 6-foot forward who has signed with Tennessee Tech, proved a matchup nightmare all game as she scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to help the Lady Wildcats post a 34-26 rebounding edge.

“It really shows that we don’t ever give up and even if we’re down we play like we’re not down and we just play like we need to play – we play our hardest,” Cawthorn said. “And I think going into overtime twice, it really showed our coaches something. It showed that we never give up and we’re a gritty team.”

A Byrd 3-pointer regained the lead for Barren County to open the fourth, but Franklin answered with three straight buckets to push out to a five-point lead.

The Trojanettes rallied, with another Atkinson 3-pointer tying the score at 43-all with nine seconds left in regulation. Franklin-Simpson turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, giving Barren a chance for the game-winning shot. But with less than two seconds on the clock, the best the Trojanettes could manage was a long one-handed throw downcourt by Byrd that fell short of the goal.

The Trojanettes led 48-46 in the first overtime when Byrd ended a patient possession with a layup, but the Lady Wildcats dashed downcourt and Vanessa Ray finished the fast break with a layup.

Barren County again had practically no time to set up a potential game-winner – less than two seconds to travel two-thirds of the court – and Adalynn Slagle missed on a buzzer-beating try.

Kloie Smith’s drive in the lane for a basket gave Franklin the lead for good with 3:19 left in the second overtime, as Barren struggled to find quality shots against the Lady Wildcats’ harassing defense. The Trojanettes went 0-for-3 from the field in the second overtime and committed a pair of turnovers as the Franklin put the game away by hitting 5-of-8 from the free-throw line over the last 1:09.

“I thought early we kind of looked a little intimidated and we called a time out,” Barren County coach Piper Lindsey said. “I thought we kind of bounced back and kind of made a little run and went into halftime with a nice little lead. Of course, they picked up the physicality and the pressure that we knew they could bring – they’re really quick guards that get up in you – but I thought we were really good down the stretch. I thought we made big shots, I thought we were really good defensively. We just had some key turnovers at bad times. And honestly, I thought we missed a lot of shots early and late around the rim and of course free throws.

“A lot of things we like and a lot of things that are fixable after this game.”

Byrd and Atkinson scored 16 points each to lead Barren County, which saw its 13-game winning streak end. The Trojanettes are back in action Friday at Pulaski County.

Ray scored 15 points to join Cawthorn in double digits for Franklin-Simpson, which is at District 13 rival Russellville on Friday.

“We told our girls the winner of this game was going to come down to who can execute and get a stop, and neither one of us could execute,” Taylor said. “We all got stops, but neither one of us could execute. So I felt good when we got that three- or four-point lead in the second overtime that we could put it away from there.”

FSHS 10 9 16 8 5 7 – 55

BCHS 8 19 6 10 5 1 – 49

FSHS – Cawthorn 22, Ray 15, Smith 6, Brown 4, Butler 4, Nolan 2, Savage 2.

BCHS – Atkinson 16, Byrd 16, Gearlds 5, Elmore 4, Burton 3, Slagle 3, Bragg 2.

BOYS

Barren County 61, Franklin-Simpson 54

Joshua Decker tallied game highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds – a double Decker, so to speak – to lead host Barren County to a 61-54 win against Franklin-Simpson on Barren’s senior night.

Decker, one of those honored seniors, rampaged through the Wildcats in the fourth quarter with 11 points in that span.

“There were a couple rebounds that he got down there that was a man’s rebound,” Barren County coach Warren Cunningham said of Decker. “He got into traffic with two hands and finished the plays. He’s been really good the last three games in the second half. He’s just dominated the game at times.”

Franklin-Simpson (5-13) burst out to a 17-6 lead to open the game and led by nine after the first quarter.

The Trojans trimmed that a bit, but still trailed by seven (31-24) at halftime.

Decker’s basket in the paint helped the Trojans pull even at 39-all with 38 seconds left in the third quarter, but Barren’s big man was just warming up.

“I just do my thing, just go out there and try and get rebounds – just being big, trying to help out the team as much as I can and help us get the win,” Decker said.

Kade Hardy’s basket on a runner in the lane gave the Trojans their first lead of the night and they never did give it back. Barren pushed ahead by as many as five points before Cole Sharer’s 3-pointer trimmed the Wildcats’ deficit to 52-50 with 2:32 to play.

Decker answered by finishing on a power move in the paint, drawing the foul and hitting the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play.

Brody McAlister knocked down a pair of free throws to get Franklin back within three with 1:16 to go, but Barren senior Tate Spillman scored on a drive, Franklin turned it over and Hardy hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to seven with 27 seconds to go.

“I felt like our defense was the problem in the second half – it let us down,” Franklin-Simpson coach Dee Spencer said. “We’ve just got to do a better job of playing good, solid defense.”

Barren County (16-9) outrebounded the Wildcats 28-13. Tate Spillman joined Decker in double-digit scoring with 12 points. The Trojans, who have won eight straight games, host Adair County on Saturday.

Sharer and Jakai Partinger had 12 points each to lead Franklin-Simpson, which visits District 13 rival Russellville on Friday.

FSHS 23 8 8 15 – 54

BCHS 14 10 15 22 – 61

FSHS – Partinger 12, Sharer 12, Johnson 8, McAlister 8, Ray 8, Brooks 6.

BCHS – Decker 16, T. Spillman 12, Hardy 9, Bewley 8, W. Spillman 6, Reece 5, Nunn 3, Clemmons 2.

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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