After snapping a 13-game losing streak in the series with an emotional victory in last season’s 13th-District title game, the Todd County Central Rebels saw a fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 64-61 loss to Franklin-Simpson on Friday night in Elkton.
The teams couldn’t be separated after three quarters but the free-throw line proved to be the difference down the stretch, with the Rebels connecting on four of eight attempts while the Wildcats went 9/12 in crunch time to put the brakes on Todd Central’s four-game win streak.
Todd struggled to get stops on the defensive end to start the game and trailed 18-11 with just over two minutes left. Freshman Keyshawn Moore wasn’t intimidated in his first taste of the rivalry, capping an eight-point quarter with a three-pointer to cut into the lead, and the Rebels got a triple from Hayden Strader and a pair of Jamison Glass free throws to tie it at 21-21 after one.
Strader’s jumper early in the second put the Rebels in front by a point, the first of seven lead changes over the remainder of the quarter. Strader knocked down another shot and followed with a three-pointer to tie the game at 34-34 before Zack Robinson drilled a shot from just inside the arc for a narrow Todd Central lead at the halftime break.
Moore’s bucket early in the third gave the Rebels their largest lead of the game at 39-34, but six points for Franklin-Simpson’s Ja’Kai Partinger and five for OJ Gamble kept the Wildcats close. Strader and Gamble traded layups in the final two minutes to head to the fourth quarter with the fourth tie of the frame.
Neither team led by more than two points over the final eight minutes until Kam Ray drained a pair of free throws for a 59-56 Franklin-Simpson advantage with :55 left to play. The Rebels came up empty on a trip to the charity stripe before Ray hit one of two at the line for a four-point edge.
Still trailing by four, Strader knocked down a three-pointer from the corner to pull the Rebels to within a point with three seconds left. Todd Central put Ray on the line, but he capped a 7/8 performance at the line in the fourth with two makes, and Moore’s half-court heave missed the mark as the horn sounded.
Glass led all scorers with 20, joined in double figures for the Rebels by Moore with 18 and Strader with 15.
Gamble led the Wildcats with 17, Partinger scored 15, Ray finished with 11, and Gavin Dickerson added 10.
Franklin-Simpson 21 13 15 15 — 64
Todd Central 21 15 13 12 — 61
Franklin-Simpson (7-6) — Gamble 17, Partinger 15, Ray 11, G. Dickerson 10, M. Dickerson 8, McAlister 2, Butler 1
Todd Central (7-6) — Glass 20, Moore 18, Strader 15, Schutt 5, Robinson 3
