FRANKLIN
The Franklin High School Broncos were awarded first place honors for winning the 2018 NAPA Auto Parts and Bluewater Rentals Classic Basketball Tournament. This was held in the Peggy Wilkins Gym at Franklin High School on Dec. 28-29. In the Saturday championship game, the Franklin Broncos defeated the Dolphins of Ocean Lakes with a score of 62-44.

The consolation game pitted the Amelia County High School Raiders against the Fuqua School Falcons. After trailing the majority of the game, the Falcons came back in the final minutes of play to claim a 62-59 win over the Raiders. The Falcons had three players in double figures. They were: Matt Osborn with 16 points; Mauren Tisdale-Couch with 14 points; and Jaylen Hempfield with 12 points.

For the Raiders, they were led by Nashawn Greene with 17 points, followed by Jalen Brown with 11 points.

For the championship game, the Broncos were in the driving seat as they led the majority of the game. After being tied a 23-all at the half, the Broncos opened the third quarter with a 1-0 run over the Dolphins. The Bronco defense also held strong, only allowing six points to give the home team a 46-29 lead at the end of the quarter. As victory seemed more evident in the final quarter, fresh Bronco jerseys were spotted on the floor.

In comments after the game, Bronco coach Robby Cutchins described the event as a “Tale of two halves. We came out and played tremendous defense in the second half and we started out the third quarter on a 15-0 run. I’m just proud of the guys they put in a lot of work over the break to get to this point to be able to be able to come in tonight and match up with team as Ocean Lakes, it’s just a testament on how hard they worked.”

The Broncos had two players in double figures. They were Drelyn Ford with 27 points, and Malik Haley with 14 points.

Luke Lamkin led the scoring for the Dolphins with 14 points, followed by Devin Brown-Fenton with 13 points.

During the awards ceremony held at the end of the championship, coach and tournament director Cutchins give general comments to thank the teams, fans and the sponsors of the tournament, NAPA Auto Parts and Bluewater Rentals. Afterwards, the players were announced for the All Tournament Team, and the trophies were awarded to the champion and the runners-up teams.