The record book shows that last Friday the visiting Logan County Cougars defeated Franklin-Simpson 68-63 in double overtime to run their district record to 3-0 while the other three teams are 1-2.
What it doesn’t demonstrate is how close the game came to ending after one overtime with each team having significant odds of being the winner. Consider these two mind-boggling happenings:
*With 4.4 seconds remaining in the first OT, Franklin led by seemingly insurmountable four points. A tenth of a second later, the score was tied at 53-53. Senior Jaxon Tichenor, who had gone into the game with a team-high 34 three-point goals to his credit, had gone 0 for 6 from long range in this game. In the clutch, however, he not only sank a three-pointer, but he also drew a foul and cashed in on the tying free throw.
*The Wildcats got off a long shot that failed. As time expired, a technical foul was called on the Wildcats. After some discussion, Davis Switzer was sent to the line for two free throws. Switzer, who is the region’s leading scorer, usually hits three of every four but missed both of them. Either one would have ended the game in Logan’s favor.
The Wildcats went up 56-53 on a three-point play by Cole Sharer. It became 58-54 on Jakai Partinger’s goal. That changed when Switzer and freshman JB Mctire took over the game in the last couple of minutes,
Franklin had led at the first three stops. Coach Dee Spencer’s Wildcats were up 14-6 after a quarter and already in foul trouble with Maliq Ford and Mctire each having two fouls called on them. Switzer was charged with his second offensive foul early in the second quarter.
Halftime arrived with officials deciding that a long goal by Brody McAllister came before the buzzer. As a result, the Wildcats led 34-31 at intermission.
Eight Cougars scored, led by Switzer with 19 and McTire 16. Scoring between 5 and 8 points were Ford, Damani Goodloe, Sila Berneir, Tichenor and Jeramiah Washington.
The Cougars won despite hitting just 2 of 20 three-point attempts and 16 of 27 free throws. Contributing to the win was better than 50 percent (23 of 42) from short range.
For Franklin, McAlister scored 18, Partinger 15, Sharer 10 and Xavier Hampton 8. The Wildcats hit 6 of 21 on 3-pointers and just 15 of 28 free throws Sharer and McAllister each grabbed 8 of the Wildcats’ 40 rebounds.
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