Despite a losing record entering this week, the Morgan County girls basketball team remains a top-10 team in Class 2A.
The Lady Dogs are ranked No. 8 in the SandySpiel.com Class 2A rankings because of their tough schedule. It was made challenging for a reason, and head coach Milfred Franklin knows his girls learned a lot.
Four of their losses have come to Putnam County, No. 6 in Class A Division I, and Oconee County, No. 8 in Class 3A. Two more of their losses have been to Josey, No. 2 in Class 2A, and Newton, No. 5 in Class 6A.
Morgan County has also recorded impressive wins over Loganville, Westside (Macon), Banks County, and others.
The Lady Dogs defeated Westside on Jan. 3 in their region opener, marking a step in the right direction for them.
“We played well, in my opinion. We came out and jumped on [Westside] early,” Franklin said. “Our guard play was very, very good against their guard play. We were able to get a lot of steals and turnovers due to the pressure that we had. And like I said, I was very pleased with how we came out starting in 2025.”
Franklin said the team lacked consistent guard play during the non-region portion of its schedule. However, he saw something different with that position on both ends of the floor against the Lady Seminoles last week.
Morgan County’s trio of leading scorers — Jaden Young, Cydney Burke, and Kymora Smith — have carried the team. But against Westside, sophomore Madison Holcomb stepped up big-time for the Lady Dogs.
Smith scored a team-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, but Holcomb added 15 points, a season-high. Nine of Holcomb’s points came from beyond the arc, while she also had two rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Young contributed 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and five steals in the double-digit region win.
Franklin was elated to see Holcomb provide a “spark” against Westside.
“We finally got some spark from Madison Holcomb, an underclassman. She came out shooting very well from the perimeter, which gave us a spark on the offensive end, where we [usually] rely on our three main players scoring,” he said. “So, that was great that another player helped generate more offense.”
Franklin wants his guards to be more consistent and doesn’t want the team to rely on Young, Burke, and Smith every night. The third-year coach fully believes others will follow in Holcomb’s footsteps and step up.
“We don't have someone who can put 30 points up every night. It has to be a collective effort,” Franklin explained. “We understand now that we have to have more of a team effort on the defensive end because our defense will have to help generate more offense for us. And that is one thing I have learned about us this year.”
Morgan County improved to 8-9 on Tuesday with a win over Rutland. The Lady Dogs will face Jackson at home this Friday.