Panther basketball’s regular season is at hand.
After months of offseason workouts, Franklin played their last preseason scrimmage Nov. 21, hosting Hayesville on Tom Raby Court. In JV girls, varsity girls and varsity boys action, Franklin geared up for their first official games at Cherokee Nov. 26.
Both JV girls teams took the court for the evening’s first scrimmage, featuring three short periods of eight minutes each. The Panthers found their shooting rhythm early in the first, getting 3-pointers from sophomore Lass Ward and sophomore Aubrey Newsome. Newsome added a long 2-pointer to end the period up 8-5.
Freshman Finley Moffitt controlled the low post in the second, blocking a shot and scoring one of her own to go up 4-0. Ward added two points and an assist in a 10-2 effort.
Sophomore Kamden Reis frustrated Hayesville’s offense in the third, posting back-to-back steals to keep Franklin in range. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Panthers 10-4, however.
After the JV scrimmage, both varsity girls teams took the court for four eight-minute “quarters.” Senior McKenna Plemmons looked sharp to start the first, scoring four early points and adding an assist later on. Promising freshman Bristol Brooks added two points and a steal, but Hayesville ended the period up 12-11.
Plemmons heated up from long range in the second, posting a 3-pointer and a long 2. Junior Katelyn Foster added four points of her own, but Hayesville outscored the Panthers 15-12.
Sophomore Layla Maloy came out firing in the third, sinking a pair of 3-pointers to go up 7-0. Franklin continued to dominate Hayesville from there, getting six more points from Foster to end the quarter up 15-0. Foster added a deft move to the basket in the fourth, but Hayesville outscored the Panthers 11-2.
Having lost several key players from last year’s roster, preseason action like Thursday’s has been been invaluable for Franklin, with multiple underclassmen playing key minutes. While the team will no doubt undergo growing pains this year, head coach Scott Hartbarger says he’s been encouraged by their efforts.
“We’re young, we have one returning starter, but the girls have got great attitudes, they’ve worked hard, and they’ve gotten better and better every day,” he said. “What we ask them is, ‘Just get better today,’ and we’ve gotten better from the [Lumpkin County, Georgia] scrimmage last Saturday to tonight. We did some really good things, and there are some things we need to focus on to get better. One of those is rebounding – we need to rebound the ball a little bit better – but we’ll get there.”
After the girls, both varsity boys teams took the court, as several Hayesville JV players had yet to join the team with Yellow Jacket football still alive in the 1A state playoffs. Senior Braylen Dezarn looked sharp to start the first, scoring six of the Panthers’ first 10 points. Having transferred to Franklin from Cherokee this summer, junior guard Jack Teesateskie was as advertized early on, posting two points, two assists and a steal to help outscore Hayesville 18-7.
Senior Noah Brannon heated up in the second, posting a block and a deft move to the basket midway through. Fellow senior Max McClure added a pair of 3-pointers to help outscore the Jackets 20-15.
Hayesville responded to start the third, scoring six of its first eight points to force a Panther timeout. Franklin soon righted the ship however, getting five points from Aaron Bravo and two steals from Gunner McConnell to end the quarter up 18-10.
Teesateskie bookended his first Panther home game in the fourth, scoring four of Franklin’s first four points to take a narrow 8-7 lead. Brannon turned red-hot soon after, posting 10 points and two steals to outscore Hayesville 24-17.
“I was impressed with their effort – consistent effort from start to finish,” said head coach Doug Plemmons. “I was impressed with their unselfishness, their willingness to pass the basketball, to find a better shot than the one they had, and a lot of the ones we missed we’ll make in the future.”