Morgan County’s girl’s basketball team has been on a hot streak, winning six out of its last eight games.
After Tuesday’s 70-23 win over Hephzibah, the Lady ‘Dogs are 13-10 overall and 5-2 in Region 4-AAA. Their lopsided victory over the Lady Rebels was never in doubt as they led from start to finish.
Despite all the recent success, head coach Milfred Franklin acknowledged his team has a lot to learn.
“Ever since the Cross Creek game, we’ve been up and down and not being consistent with our overall intensity,” Franklin said. “We came into the ARC game last Tuesday with very low energy and no sense of urgency, which led to us not playing well against them. ARC then fought and scrapped the entire game. We just couldn’t match their intensity. We were playing like a shell of ourselves that night.”
However, even though Franklin knows his team hasn’t peaked yet, he’s seen it grow a lot as well.
“Overall, I have seen a lot of progress with how we want to play coming down the stretch,” Franklin said. “We’ve just got to be more consistent with our play. The girls are starting to understand their positions and what I need to get from them. We’re just not (playing) consistent enough.”
Morgan County defeated Salem this past Friday with a convincing double-digit victory. The Lady Dogs topped the Lady Seminoles in a low-scoring 38-21 but led from start to finish.
Sophomore Cydney Burke scored a team-high 10 points with two rebounds. Senior Precious Benford was also productive, totaling six points and a team-high nine rebounds in the win over Salem.
Freshmen Miracle Ward and Madison Holcomb also played valuable minutes in the big win.
Over the last couple of weeks, Franklin has been relying on both Ward and Holcomb to grow up fast.
“Our young group is talented enough to help give us quality minutes right now,” Franklin said. “But I also wanted to give them some more playing time to help them prepare for the rest of the season.”
Finding a rhythm and playing consistently is going to be big for Franklin’s squad down the stretch. He will rely on older players to help lead the charge with only a few games remaining in 2023-24.
Players such as Burke, Benford, Jaden Young, Kymora Smith, and Destiny Smith will need to make a difference. Those four – along with the freshmen and a few others – will need to play their best ball as the Lady Dogs try to return to the Class AAA playoffs for a second straight year.
Morgan County has two games left – Friday at Cross Creek and home next Tuesday against Harlem. The Lady Dogs enter Friday’s matchup second in the region standings behind Cross Creek.
“We’re down to our last few games,” Franklin said. “This is the time our girls need to find that consistency. We’re going to need every willing body once the region tournament and playoffs start.”