Lady Wildcats beat Spartans 58-33 in region quarterfinals

Published 11:05 pm Sunday, March 2, 2025

By Jeff Nations

Franklin-Simpson passed its first test in the Region 4 Girls’ Basketball Tournament with flying colors on Sunday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

Widely considered one of the top contenders — if not the outright favorite — to win the regional championship and advance to the KHSAA Girls’ Sweet Sixteen next month at Rupp Arena in Lexington, the Lady Wildcats very much looked the part in dismantling District 14 tournament runner-up South Warren in a 58-33 win in the regional quarterfinals.

Franklin-Simpson (26-2) forced the smaller Spartans into 18 first-half turnovers, many of which turned into easy fast-break baskets the other way. The Lady Wildcats’ length, in particular 6-foot senior forward LaReesha Cawthorn and 6-0 junior forward Kloie Smith, was something South Warren (15-15) simply could not match.

Email newsletter signup

“They’re just so athletic and when they’re engaged defensively you’ve really, really have to make perfect passes,” South Warren coach Lane Embry said. “And not only that, but you’re really going to have to really protect the dribble and read the help, and find the person who is open. And when they’re that athletic and long, it’s just a hard thing to do.

” … When you’re in that situation and you see that athleticism, it’s just hard to see. And you don’t see it enough to really get used to it. There’s not more than three or four teams that look like that in terms of athleticism in the state. Not just in the region, but in the state — their athleticism, I’d put it up against almost anybody. They’re just really, really good.”

Cawthorn, a Tennessee Tech signee, led the way for the Lady Wildcats with 23 points and 10 rebounds to notch a double-double. She also tallied three steals, three assists and three blocks.

Smith chipped in with 14 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Franklin-Simpson came up with 15 steals in all and forced a total of 21 turnovers.

After a slow start in nearly four minutes, the Lady Wildcats got rolling when MaJayla Butler hit a jump shot, then Cawthorn struck for back-to-back baskets in the paint. That 6-0 spurt was part of a 13-2 run to close out the first quarter.

Franklin forced eight turnovers in the first eight minutes and led 17-6.

McLaine Hudson drove in the lane for a layup to get South Warren off to a promising start in the second quarter, but the Lady Wildcats answered with 12 straight points — six from Cawthorn — to take a 29-8 lead with 2:43 left in the first half.

Franklin forced 10 more turnovers in the second quarter to help build a 37-12 halftime lead.

“I feel like we have really turned up our defense to a new level,” Franklin-Simpson senior Jasmine Savage said. “I feel like we all lock in. Holding a team to a certain amount of points each quarter, I think having that goal really keeps our minds locked in on what we’re supposed to do on our defensive assignment.”

South Warren cut down on the turnovers in the second half, but couldn’t match Franklin’s scoring. The Lady Wildcats continued to pull away, outscoring the Spartans 15-8 in the third quarter before South made a bit of headway in the fourth.

The loss ended what has been a strong second half of the season for South Warren, which bounced back from an 0-7 start to win eight of its last 10 games and reach the Region 4 tournament.

“At the beginning of the season we were on a losing streak and I’m pretty sure everyone was in favor to turn that around,” said South Warren senior Jenna Lindsey, who finished with a team-high 12 points. “I definitely don’t like to lose. We ended up going to the coaches at the game at Logan County, seeing what we could do to get the team to work together better and make it to where we could win games. Somehow we just all got together and we turned it around.”

Franklin-Simpson moves on to face Barren County in Tuesday’s 6:30 p.m. regional semifinal game at Diddle. It will be rematch from the regular season, when the Lady Wildcats prevailed in an epic 55-49 double-overtime decision at Barren County on Feb. 4.

“Execution on offense — I think they defend really well,” Franklin-Simpson coach Ashley Taylor said of facing Barren County. “And being able to beat their press. I think that they score off their press. They need it to help them score, so being able to handle their press and execute offensively.”

SWHS 6 6 8 13 — 33

FSHS 17 20 15 6 — 58

SWHS — Lindsey 12, Hudson 11, Calvert 3, Fugate 3, Gatewood 2, Strow 2.

FSHS — Cawthorn 23, Smith 14, Nolan 8, Ray 6, Butler 4, Brown 3.

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

email author More by Jeff

More Sports

Second-half surge lifts Barren County over Cumberland County

Lady Toppers claim home wins against Jax State, Southern Indiana

LCA’s Phillips named 2025 KCAA Mr. Basketball

Brown homers as Tops wrap up 4-game sweep of Chippewas

Print Article