Panther women’s hoops have earned their first wins of the year.
After opening the season with losses to Rabun County and Cherokee, on the week of Dec. 4 Franklin faced a full slate of nonconference games. In avenging their loss to Rabun and dispatching Hayesville at home, Scott Hartbarger’s team notched two big wins ahead of the start of their conference schedule.
After falling 74-52 at Rabun in their first game Nov. 28, on Dec. 5 Franklin welcomed the Wildcats to Tom Raby Court for an early-season rematch. There, senior forward/center Avery Moffitt shot out of the gate, racking up nine first-quarter points and two steals. Junior point guard Cali Queen added two 3-pointers and a steal to end the period up 15-14.
Franklin remained locked in a dogfight in the second, maintaining a 25-23 lead behind two 3-pointers from junior guard Aubrey Haley. Freshman point guard Audrey Pressley added five points and two steals to end the half up 36-28.
Rabun slowed the Panther offense down to start the third, stealing several long passes up the court in transition. Franklin saw most of their halftime lead chipped away, ending the quarter up just 47-45.
The home team responded in the fourth however, reasserting their control behind junior McKenna Plemmons’ two 3-pointers and an assist. Queen posted four assists, three points, a block and several tipped passes in the quarter to help cement a 73-58 win. Junior forward Payton Baty looked sharp throughout the contest, adding strong defense and multiple tough baskets in the low post.
Having avenged their earlier loss to Rabun, on Dec. 8 the Panthers welcomed Hayesville to Tom Raby Court. Both defenses looked stout early, largely holding each other’s offenses in check throughout the first quarter. A Moffitt basket put Franklin up just 8-5 to end the period.
The defensive slugfest continued into the second, led for the Panthers by junior center Charley Seagle. Queen added a steal and assisted a Moffit basket to end the half down 13-10.
Moffitt helped spark the Panther offense in the third, controlling the low post for 10 points in the quarter. Queen added two assists to regain the lead 25-19.
Haley kept expanding Franklin’s lead in the fourth, posting eight points including two 3-pointers and assisting another from Pressley. The offensive outburst was too much for Hayesville to overcome, returning to Clay County with a 43-32 loss.
After dispatching Hayesville, the team returned to Tom Raby Court the next afternoon, where they faced another tough early-season game against Rabun Gap. Having stepped up their recruiting for the team in recent years, the talented Eagles showed their quality early on, building a 13-5 lead to force a Panther timeout midway through the first. Rabun Gap ended the quarter up 19-9 despite five points from Haley and four from Moffitt.
Queen kept Franklin within striking distance in the second, posting five points, an assist and two steals to make it 27-18. The Eagles scored the last four points of the half, however.
Queen stayed hot into the third, posting two points, two steals and an assist in the period. Despite this, Rabun Gap ended the quarter up 47-26, and went on to win the game 67-34. Notwithstanding the loss to the Eagles, Hartbarger credited his team’s effort.
“We had a good week. We played very well against Rabun and were able to get that win, and I was proud of our girls and the way they competed with them,” he said after the game. “We bounced back from getting beat by [21] down there, and it was a great feeling. Last night we struggled in the first half, but we flipped the switch at halftime and finished the game out the right way. And then today, [Rabun Gap] are just so good, it was a good challenge for us. I thought we battled, our effort was tremendous; we just didn’t knock down some shots, and they altered our shots. It was good for us – now we’ve got those games out of the way, and we can focus on the conference.”
After a gauntlet of tough early-season games, Franklin will put that experience to use. On Dec. 15, they’ll open their Mountain Seven Conference schedule against East Henderson, then take on Tuscola in their second M7 game Dec. 19.