In search of a first 13th-district title since the 2017/18 season, the Todd County Central Rebels twice had the ball in the final twenty seconds with a chance to tie, but costly miscues allowed Franklin-Simpson to hold on for a 45-43 victory at Logan County High School on Friday.
The Rebels see a four-game winning run come to an end and enter next week’s 4th-Region tournament with a 23-8 record.
Franklin-Simpson claims its second-straight district title to improve to 18-8 overall. The Wildcats fell in overtime to Barren County in the first round of the region tournament last season.
The Rebels held the Wildcats to a single point over the first six minutes of the game, but only led by a basket at 6-4 after OJ Gamble drilled a 3-pointer for Franklin-Simpson.
Jalen Briscoe’s bucket in the lane put Franklin-Simpson in front 10-6 to start the 2nd quarter. After a putback for Amari Andrews, the Rebels tied the game at 12-12 but trailed by five with 2:34 left in the half.
Mareke Johnson scored on a layup and knocked down a 3 from the corner to pull Todd Central within a point at 18-17. However, Ishmael Holcomb scored on a pull-up jumper to give Franklin-Simpson a three-point halftime edge.
Todd Central opened the 2nd half on an 11-2 run to take a 28-22 lead after Perez Whitlock connected on a 3-pointer with 3:31 to play in the 3rd. But the Rebels didn’t score again until Jamison Glass’ bucket in the lane with :12 left, and Franklin-Simpson closed on a 9-2 spurt to take a 1-point advantage.
The Rebels took their final lead of the game at 34-33 when Johnson banked in a 3-pointer early in the 4th quarter. Then, Briscoe took over for the Wildcats with eight points, and they surged in front 43-38 with 2:30 to play.
Glass scored in the lane to cut it to three, and after the Wildcats missed the front end of a 1 and 1, the Rebels had a chance to tie. However, a turnover gave the ball back to Franklin-Simpson. The Wildcats once again missed the first free throw, but Todd Central turned the ball over again without getting a shot off.
With five seconds to go, Franklin’s Connor Vincent stepped to the line and knocked down a pair to seal the win. Whitlock’s deep 3-pointer beat the buzzer, but the Rebels were out of time.
Todd Central’s only two free throw attempts came in the 4th quarter, while Franklin-Simpson finished 15/24 at the line.
Briscoe’s 18 points led all scorers, followed for the Wildcats by Vincent with 10.
Johnson finished with 16 points for the Rebels, Glass had 11, and Whitlock scored 10.
Franklin-Simpson 8 12 11 14 — 45
Todd Central 6 11 13 13 — 43
Franklin-Simpson (18-8) — Briscoe 18, Vincent 10, Gamble 8, Dickerson 5, Holcomb 2, Jones 2
Todd Central (23-8) — M. Johnson 16, Glass 11, Whitlock 10, Andrews 4, Moore 2
