MORGAN COUNTY
Milfred Franklin recently got his first career win as the Morgan County girls’ basketball head coach.
The Lady Bulldogs returned to the court after Thanksgiving Break to take on rival Social Circle last Friday. They prevailed 49-23 over the Lady Redskins in front of a packed crowd at home.
“With the break that we had, we were really able to start to figure out the important things and what it takes to be a good basketball team,” Franklin said. “We have not acquired them yet, but the girls have started to realize what it’s going to take for us to be successful this year. We were also able to iron out a lot of kinks and figure out our rotation of who plays when in certain situations.”
Senior Destiny Hunter had a double-double, notching 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the win over Social Circle. Junior Precious Benford was also productive, totaling a team-high 13 points and five assists.
She also registered two blocks and two steals on Saturday.
Morgan County played well from the start, but only led by three points at the end of the first quarter. However, the Lady Dogs kicked it into high gear in the second period, leading 27-15 at the half. Their defensive pressure caused the Lady Redskins to make several mistakes.
“In my opinion, we came out a little flat. I don’t think we were that mentally focused [going into the game],” Franklin said. “I think the girls underestimated how Social Circle was going to be when they first came out there. It reflected how we played overall in the first quarter, and I was not pleased that our girls were lacking mental preparedness going into it.”
Morgan County picked up the momentum it gained in the second quarter and carried it over to the second half. The Lady Dogs outscored the Lady Redskins 10-2 in the third quarter. Hunter and junior Kymora Smith were able to take control down low and grab rebounds. Smith finished the game with four points, eight rebounds, two assists and one steal.
“Destiny and Precious played extremely well,” Franklin said. “Destiny got a lot of offensive and defensive rebounds for put-backs to score her points. Precious was able to play well inside and take advantage of her height to Social Circle’s inside presence. After the first quarter, our girls were able to regain their focus because I was platooning a lot of them in and out [of the game] due to the fact that they weren’t mentally ready. Once I started doing that, they started to realize that they needed to be mentally prepared to play in the game.”
Morgan County then hit the court again on Saturday and played Greene County on the road. The Lady Dogs came away with an exciting 46-44 road victory over the Lady Tigers.
It was also key for Franklin to get this win because Greene County head coach Derrick Williams is his first cousin. Now, he has bragging rights heading into the Christmas holidays.
“Derrick [Williams] has done an extremely great job of turning that program around,” Franklin said. “The way they played is a true reflection of the dedication he’s put in for that program over there. I tried to prepare my players because this was going to be a very hostile game, especially due to the fact that it’s a big rivalry and it was going to be packed.”
The game between Morgan County and Greene County was tight all the way until the end.
The Lady Tigers had an 8-0 run toward the end of regulation to position themselves back into contention. However, the Lady Dogs’ were able to hold them off to get the two-point win.
Greene County sophomore Sonovia Reynolds scored a game-high 25 points, but it still wasn’t enough as the Lady Dogs held on to get their second victory of the 2022-23 season.
Hunter recorded her second double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 20 boards. Benford totaled 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Jaden Young contributed seven points, but Smith was also clutch with her 11 boards.
“As the crowd got bigger towards the end of the game, they got louder. The girls couldn’t hear me as much and it started to become white noise because they didn’t understand what needed to be done,” Franklin said. “However, one thing I was pleased with is that our girls didn’t really get rattled. They didn’t lose their composure. They also didn’t start doing unorthodox things when the score was tied or we got down. I was very proud of how we kept our composure in the last few minutes of the game. That was great to see as a coach.”
Morgan County played Oconee County on Tuesday, surviving a late scare from the Lady Warriors to win, 56-55.
The Lady Bulldogs are now 3-1 overall heading into this weekend. They return home this Friday to host Hart County and rival Putnam County on Saturday.