It was the sendoff senior guard Adarius Barnett and Warren East hoped for.

The Raiders (14-11) unloaded for 29 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday, beating visiting Franklin-Simpson 64-38 on senior night at WEHS.

“I’m glad for every senior that put in all the work,” said Barnett, who scored a game-high 21 points. “We came out and took this one. We’re not going to be back, so we had to leave with a bang.”

Franklin-Simpson (12-15) closed to within 35-30 in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, but Warren East pulled away with a 21-5 run, charged by Barnett.

The senior scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Raiders forget a stretch during which they lost four of their last six games.

“We feel very fortunate to be playing good basketball at this time of the year,” Warren East coach Casey Simpson said. “Those seniors, a lot of those guys have been around three years ago when things were really rough around here. For it come full circle, I hope the kids understand that hard work pays off.”

The Raiders led 11-4 after one quarter and 26-14 at halftime, taking advantage of Franklin-Simpson’s 12 first-half turnovers.

The Wildcats scored the first six points of the second half, and junior guard Tanner Clark’s nine points in the third quarter allowed FSHS to cut its deficit to six with one period to play.

“All this year, teams have gotten runs on us,” Barnett said. “They’ve hit us with runs. It’s nothing new, so we just had to keep our composure.”

The fourth quarter was all Warren East after Clark’s opening free throw. Barnett repeatedly sliced his way to the basket, and a slew of younger Raiders kept the pace in the final minutes.

“I liked the way my kids fought back early in the second half, but for whatever reason, we had a letdown,” Franklin-Simpson coach Lex Lindsey said. “We can’t afford to get down double digits in the fourth quarter because we can’t impose our will on defense to come back from that kind of deficit.

“The rim gets really wide when you’ve got a double-digit lead late in a game like that.”

Senior guard Dalton Whitney added 12 points for Warren East, while senior center John Bootz had six rebounds and six blocks.

Clark led Franklin-Simpson with 12 points. Senior forward Drew Tingle pitched in six points and 12 rebounds.

Lindsey confirmed before the game that senior guard Jerrell Wickware, the Wildcats’ leading scorer, is no longer with the program after choosing to “go in another direction.”

Wickware averaged 17.2 points per game before his departure.

Warren East plays at Monroe County at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while Franklin-Simpson hosts Glasgow at the same time.

FSHS 4 10 15 9 – 38

WEHS 11 15 9 29 – 64

FSHS – Clark 12, Flippin 8, Tingle 6, Talley 6, Fox 5, Holman 1.

WEHS – A. Barnett 21, Whitney 12, Dunn 7, Bryant 7, Lee 5, Dice 3, Stockton 3, Bootz 2, Duncan 2, J. Barnett 2.

Franklin-Simpson 47, Warren East 31 (girls)

A 17-0 run to end the first half was the difference as the Lady Wildcats (14-15) ended a tough skid with a 47-31 win over the Lady Raiders at WEHS.

Warren East (2-26) pulled within 11-8 with a basket by junior forward Justice Martin to open the second quarter, but Franklin-Simpson held the Lady Raiders scoreless for the rest of the half to take a 28-8 lead into the locker room.

FSHS had lost seven of its previous nine games.

“I thought we were mature enough to handle what they threw at us and put ourselves over the hump,” FSHS coach Josh Matthews said. “We scored when we needed to, and that’s the sign of a team starting to mature.”

Junior forward Tasia Covington paced the Lady Wildcats with 18 points, including nine in the first quarter as FSHS opened an 11-6 lead before its key burst.

Warren East bounced back in the third quarter by outscoring the Lady Wildcats 12-6, and FSHS’ lead was cut down to nine at one point in the fourth.

But sophomore forward Sydney Gooch scored six straight points with less than four minutes left, helping Franklin-Simpson put the game away.

“I think their coach does a great job and their kids play hard,” Matthews said of Warren East. “I enjoy playing them, and going down the stretch, we were struggling with some things. We picked it up when we had to.”

Martin and sophomore guard Hannah Parker led Warren East with 11 points apiece.

“Collectively, the girls have improved so much from game one,” Warren East coach Aaron Richmond said. “One thing we wanted to work on tonight was putting four quarters together. We took three minutes and let Franklin build a big lead at halftime, and it was because we put our heads down.

“We came back and told them to fight through the rest of the game, and they responded to it.”

Both teams continue play in the last week of the regular season at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Lady Wildcats host Glasgow, while Warren East visits Monroe County.

FSHS 11 17 6 13 – 47

WEHS 6 2 12 11 – 31

FSHS – Covington 18, Curtis 10, Gooch 8, Reetzke 5, Krantz 3, Babb 3.

WEHS – Justice Martin 11, Parker 11, Young 4, Hawkins 2, Bibb 2, Houchins 1.