MONTICELLO — Franklin County’s Victoria Hunt tossed in agame-high 26 points, leading the Lady Bulldogs to a 49-27 win overthe Lady Flashes of St. Aloysius and the girls championship of theLawrence County Invitational Tournament Saturday night.

A long trey and a spirited defensive effort by the LawrenceCounty Cougars in the final 40 seconds, propelled them to a 43-40boys championship win over the Franklin County Bulldogs in the LCHSGym.

In the consolation games, the Lawrence County Lady Cougars beatSalem 49-32. The St. Aloysius boys squeaked by Salem 46-44.

Lawrence County hosts McComb for a Division 6-4A test Tuesday,tipping off at 4:45 p.m. with the JV boys game. Franklin Countytravels to North Pike in Division 7-3A action.

Lawrence Co. 43, Franklin Co. 40

Cougar head coach Bobby Lee has seen his share of close calls inhis 35 years of coaching. Last night was no different than anyother. LCHS kept this close throughout the evening, as both teamstraded leads.

Franklin Co. (3-5), coached by Chris Jordan, kept the defensivepressure on the Cougars all night long. Boasting a pair of twintowers in Marcus and Bo Tillman, the Bulldogs were a force to bereckoned with in the paint.

LCHS held a 13-8 first quarter lead and a 22-20 advantage at theintermission break. Franklin Co. would respond with a 12-7 thirdperiod; taking a 32-29 lead into the final stanza.

The Bulldogs held a 40-38 lead on an offensive putback by futureLSU football signee Marcus Tillman with less than 2 minutes left onthe game clock. Tillman led Franklin Co. with 16 points.

LCHS worked with patience on the offensive end, after severaldefensive stands against the Bulldogs. Off of a Franklin Co.turnover, Cougar senior Lenquez Smith sacked a trey off the rightwing to give LCHS a 41-40 lead with nearly 40 seconds left in thegame.

After several timeouts by both teams, the Bulldogs got the ballinbounds; attempting several game-tying shots. All failed with thefinal shot being blocked by LCHS center Kelvin Rogers, as timeexpired.

“We just needed to knock down some more shots,” said Lee who isin his final season at LCHS.

Cougar senior Craig Tyler led the way with 13 points, followedby Dominique West with 11. West sacked a pair of free throws withunder 18 seconds left in the game, to aid in the victory.

Franklin Co. 49, St. Aloysius 27

Both teams came into this game unbeaten. It would be the LadyBulldogs (9-0) who would keep their perfect record in tact.Franklin County, coached by Charles Moore, saw his ballcluboutscore St. Al 30-9 in the second half; pulling away for the girlschampionship.

“We kept our composure tonight,” said Lady Bulldog head coachCharles Moore following the game. “We have to focus hard; playingon the road.”

Leading the Lady Flashes (15-1) was Sarah Kent with 13 points.St. Al, a Division 7-1A member, are under the direction of headcoach Drew McBrayer.

Lawrence Co. 49, Salem 32

The Lady Cougars, coached by Vicki Rutland, were led by BiloxiHigh transfer Jonika Walton with a game-high 24 points, 14 reboundsand 5 steals. Senior Erical Bryant followed with 14 points, 12rebounds, 2 blocked shots and 2 steals. Jasmianda Bass and FiereBrown dished out 3 assists and had 2 steals.

“We played hard tonight,” said Rutland. “We played team ball. Iam proud of the team effort.”

The Lady Wildcats got 15 points from Keisha Peters.

St. Aloysius 46, Salem 44

The Golden Flashes were led by Marsh Willis with 17 points,followed by Chase Smith with 15. The Wildcats, coached by KennethMurphy, got a game-high 21 points from Shannon Ratliff.