By ANDREW FAISON/CORRESPONDENT
andrew.faison@yahoo.com

COURTLAND—Southampton High School boys defeated the Franklin 69-61 in non-conference match-up Saturday night.

It was the Indians’ 10th win in a row.

“It’s a good win,” said Indians Coach Will Melbye. “Anytime you get one in these rivalry games, if its 8 points or 80, it doesn’t matter; they mean the same, and they’re all big.”

Southampton improved to 12-4 on the season and remained 7-4 in the Southside District, while Franklin fell to 6-8 and remained 4-5 in the Tri-Rivers District.

“I feel like we battled with [Southampton] to stay in contention,” said Franklin Coach Danny Dillon.

Leading the way for Southampton was Jalen Ford with 18 points. Nick Doyle added 17points and Tonee Hill had 15 points.

“We’ve just been playing great team basketball the last two weeks,” said Melbye. “We just need to keep playing sound defensively; that is kind of what has carried us through here. “

Leading the way for Franklin was Justin Grant with 26 points; Franti Urqhart had 12 points.

“We added a few new players,” Dillon said. “So as far as offensive and defensive stats, we had a few players new to it.”

Southampton was first to score with a 3-point shot by Hill. The first quarter ended with Southampton leading 17-13.

Andre Foreman started off the second quarter for the Broncos with a 3-point shot to bring Franklin to within one point of the lead. With 6 minutes remaining in the half, Foreman hits his second 3-pointer of the quarter to give the Broncos their first lead of the evening 21-20.

Southampton regained the lead when Johnson went 1-for-2 for a free-throw. Ford grabbed the offensive rebound and put the ball back up for 2 points giving the Indians a 26-23 lead. The half ended with Southampton leading 33-26.

“They had great looks at the basket,” said Melbye. “And Justin kept finding open spaces. “

With 2:06 left in the fourth quarter, Franklin called a timeout as Hill hit a 3-pointer, grabbing the momentum back from Franklin who had closed to within 4 points. It was at this point that Franklin began to intentionally foul Southampton players to slow down the game.

“But from about 4½ , 5 minutes left in the game, that clock did not tick fast enough and it just seemed to drag on,” Melbye said.

“Again, Southampton is essentially a great team,” Dillon said. “But I was good with the way the guys continued to battle out there.”

Southampton’s final three games of the regular season are all Southside District match-ups as the Indians will travel to Powhatan today, Feb. 7, and Prince Edward on Wednesday, Feb. 9, before returning home Friday, Feb. 11, to face Greensville. Game times are 7:30 p.m.

The Broncos will host Tri-Rivers District foe Sussex Central on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and Chesterfield on Wednesday, Feb. 9, before traveling to Charles City on Friday, Feb. 11. Game times are 7:30 p.m.