MORGAN COUNTY
The Morgan County girls’ basketball team ended the 2022 part of its schedule on a high note. The Lady Dogs (9-3) competed in the Chuck Miller Classic last week and went 3-0 in the tournament.
Morgan County head coach Milfred Franklin is starting to see the pieces come together.
“We came into the tournament with a good focus,” Franklin said. “I told the girls that these next three games can really define what type of team we are and how we want to play. We had a conversation among ourselves on what they wanted to be known as.”
Well, the Lady Dogs sure exceeded Franklin’s expectations over the course of the three days.
“We came up with a few things and really started to work on them during these three games,” Franklin added. “I think the girls bought into it and found their identity.”
Morgan County dominated Community Christian 64-26 in the opening game on Dec. 27. The Lady Dogs had three players in double figures. They were led by Kymora Smith, who totaled 23 points, while Jaden Young added 18 and Kiwi Lane scored 16, respectively.
Morgan County played a lot more up-tempo than usual. The Lady Dogs went up and down the floor all night, controlling how the game went, which was in their favor.
Franklin’s squad crashed the boards against Community Christian, out-rebounding its opponent. Smith and senior Destiny Hunter combined for 17 of the team’s 33 boards.
“We played much better man defense (against Community Christian),” Franklin said. “I think that’s one of the things that they realized they needed to do, and they did it. We’re going to need to do that a lot more if we want to go deeper in the playoffs.”
The Lady Dogs’ defense seemed to have smothered their opponent from Stockbridge. They also outscored Community Christian in all four quarters of the game.
Morgan County then faced Class 7A powerhouse Newton County, and the game was closely decided. The Lady Dogs escaped with a 37-34 win over the Lady Rams.
“That game could have gone either way,” Franklin said. “It was a back-and-forth battle.” In a defensive battle, Morgan County was led by Young and Lane, who each had 10 points. Hunter was also effective by scoring nine points and grabbing eight boards.
The Lady Dogs’ poor performance against Newton County boiled down to their shooting miscues in a low-scoring game. They shot 41 percent from the field, but 33 percent (2-of-6) from the 3-point line and 20 percent (3-of-15) at the free-throw line.
“We’ve formed an identity, although we need to become more of a pressing team,” Franklin said. “We want to play a lot more man-to-man defense as I mentioned before.”
Newton County was able to exploit Morgan County’s defense in a few ways, despite only being held to 34 points. The Lady Rams were able to break away from the Lady Dogs’ pressure and score a few baskets in transition, which doesn’t happen much.
Still, they were able to rebound on Dec. 29 and defeat McDonough 54-35 to cap off the week. Smith, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player, registered a double-double. The sophomore tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds in the victory on Thursday.
Young also added 11 points and six boards. Freshman Cydney Burke also had a productive game, totaling nine points and seven points. Lane and Hunter each had seven points.
“Honestly, the way we’ve been playing, we’ve had a lot of girls contributing in various ways,” Franklin said. “I’m just hoping we can maintain our consistency. I can’t really pinpoint one player we can lean on because each girl brings a strong attribute to the table. So, it’s vital and important for the continuity and chemistry of our team.”
Morgan County will begin Region 4-AAA play against the Academy of Richmond County (4-4) on Friday. It will be the region opener for the Lady Musketeers as well.
The Lady Dogs’ region will also feature teams such as Cross Creek (10-3) and Hephzibah (8-3), which are each fighting for the No. 1 seed at the end of the season.
According to Franklin, the Lady Dogs are fired up about starting their region schedule.
“Our expectation is to compete for a region championship. That’s one of our goals” Franklin said. “The girls feel as if they have a chance to make some noise in the region, despite being a little young, and that’s not going to stop us from playing our game.”
Morgan County will have three home games next week against Salem (Tuesday, 6:00 p.m.), Hephzibah (Friday, 6 p.m.) and Eastside (Saturday 5 p.m.) following its game at ARC this Friday.