Trailing by 13 points in the second half in a district game on the road, the Russellville Panthers roared and raced back, pulling to within a point in the final minute Tuesday. Three free throws refused to fall, however, and the comeback fell just short.
As a result, Franklin-Simpson held on for a 72-70 win, keeping the Panthers from sealing the top seed in the district standings.

The Panthers had played some of their best ball in years in dispatching the Wildcats by 18 points a couple of weeks earlier at Jim Young Gymnasium.
Coach David Clark had his Wildcats ready to go to battle this time. In fact, they warmed up wearing camouflage, symbolizing their take-no-prisoners attitude going into the game.

For a while, it seemed that the Cats were going to win with the same kind of donation the Panthers had at RHS. The Wildcats jumped out to leads of 13-4 and 21-12. After Justin Bollenbecker's goal had cut the F-S lead to four in the first minute of the second quarter, the Wildcats went on a 10-1 surge to go up by 13 at 31-18.
Russellville refused to retreat. Instead the Panthers came back with a vengeance. Kevin Temple and Devonta Bryant each scored as the result of steals, Damien Elam hit a shot, Bollenbecker hit two free throws, Temple put together a 3-point play, Bollenbecker hit a field goal, and Victor Hampton got a free throw to fall to cut the margin in half at 38-32. Franklin led 40-32 at the half.
Russellville's Bollenbecker and Franklin's Mickey Lewis each had 14 points at halftime. Ryan Randolph's nine points provided the difference.

The Wildcats' lead reached 13 again at 51-38, but once again the Panthers came back. D.J. Quarles and Bollenbecker each hit goals to complete an eight-point Panther run to make it 51-46, but J.T. Curtis' 3-pointer put Franklin ahead 54-46 at the three-quarter mark.

Bryant's free throw shooting kept the Wildcats from winning with ease. He hit seven straight in the fourth quarter and 9 of 12 for the game, the last two cutting the lead to 71-67. The Wildcats' Marcus Doaks missed the front end of the bonus with 47 seconds left in the game, and Bollenbecker hit a 3-pointer to pull the Panthers to within one at 71-70.
Russellville's swarming defense caused Curtis to lose control of the ball. Elam picked it up and got the ball to Quarles, who was fouled with 19.6 seconds. Quarles, a steady, 3-point standout for the Panthers, went to the line with a chance to give his team the lead. He missed both free throws, but the Wildcats were called for a lane violation. Given a third chance, the cool-handed Quarles missed his third attempt for the tie, too, and Franklin's Jerron Patterson came down with the rebound.

The Panthers fouled Lewis, who missed his first free throw but hit the second with 16 seconds. The Panthers still had plenty of time to get off a tying or winning shot, but the F-S defense held tough, and Temple had to throw up a long, off-balance shot at the buzzer which wasn't close, and the Wildcats survived.

Lewis scored 26 for Franklin-Simpson with Curtis adding 13, Randolph 11 and Patterson 10. Bollenbecker led the Panthers with 21 points while Bryant had 15, Temple 13 and Quarles 10. Franklin out-rebounded the Panthers 45-31, a big factor in the game.
The win improved the Wildcats' district record to 3-1 with both games against Todd Central remaining. Russellville is also 3-1. The Panthers play host to Logan County Friday night and also have a game left with Todd.

Score by Quarters: 1) F-S 21-15, 2) 40-32, 3) 54-46, Final) Franklin-Simpson 72, Russellville 70
RHS (70) Justin Bollenbecker 21, Devonta Bryant 15, Kevin Temple 13, D.J. Quarles 10, Damien Elam 5, Victor Hampton 5, Trevor Clark 1, Murphy
F-S (72) Mickey Lewis 26, J.T. Curtis 13, Ryan Randolph 11, Jerron Patterson10, Doaks 7, Krantz 2, Lockhart 2

Franklin-Simpson 56, Lady Panthers 40
Coach Dedra Adler's Russellville girls outscored the powerful Lady Cats in the second half but had dug themselves to deep a hole in the first two quarters. After a 7-7 tie, Franklin led 15-8 and 35-18 at the first two stops on the way to a 56-40 win in the opener of the doubleheader.
Even though the Lady Panthers held the region's best player, Lady Cat center Chastity Gooch, to five points in the second half, she still finished within one rebound of a triple double. She had 16 points, 10 blocks and 9 rebounds. The Lady Panthers forced Franklin into 18 second-half turnovers.

Nakia Daniel scored 12 points, Imani Hampton 9 and Brittany Hampton and Amber Sydnor 6 each for the Lady Panthers. Ten players scored for F-S, but Gooch was the only one in double figures.

Franklin improved to 4-0 in the district. Russellville fell to 1-3. The Lady Panthers have two district games, one Friday against visiting Logan County (2-3 in the district) and Todd Central (1-2) Feb. 12. Friday's game is the last for Logan, which lost to Russellville in overtime in January but swept Todd.

Score by Quarters: 1) F-S 15-8, 2) 35-18, 3) 42-25, Final) Franklin-Simpson 56, Russellville 40
RHS (40) Nakia Daniel 12, Imani Hampton 9, Amber Sydnor 6, Brittany Hampton 6, Tameeka Rippy 5, Leandra Hoosier 2, Rose, Neblett
F-S (56) Chastity Gooch 16, Williams 8, Bryant 7, Curtis 6, Chatman 5, Smith 4, Covington 4, Clark 2, S. Gooch 2, Savage 2