MEADVILLE — The Franklin County High Hoop Dawgs opened their2007-08 season with a bang Tuesday night, sweeping visitingLawrence County in doubleheader action. The Lady Bulldogs ousted LC60-42, and the Bulldogs beat the Cougars 47-41.

The Lady Bulldogs (1-1), coming off a 54-49 loss at Top 5-rankedForest Hill last week, roared out to a 33-12 halftime lead againstLawrence County and never looked back.

Coached by Charles Moore, the Lady Bulldogs continued theirdominance in the second half, as seniors Monea Cameron, CharlesiaHouston, and Shareka Hunt stretched the floor with rebounds andsteals for easy buckets.

FC was led in scoring by forward Paige Webster with 19 pointsand eight boards. Houston added 12 points and six rebounds, whileCameron netted three points, but finished with four steals and nineassists.

For Lawrence County, Brittany Collins led the Lady Cougars with15 points. Kasey May netted nine points in the losing effort.

The Bulldogs (1-0) used a layup by juniorTaylor Washington and free throws by senior Michael Allen down thestretch to pull away from a pesky and strong Lawrence County team,coached by Preston Wilson.

Wilson watched his Cougars claw to a 27-all deadlock withFranklin County, before being outscored 20-14 in the secondhalf.

“We had our opportunities, but we didn’t make the plays when weneeded them,” said Wilson.

The Cougars (0-3) could not find an answer to FC seniorguard/forward Jason Hunt, who lit up the Lawrence County defensefor 20 points. The 6-2 Hunt was automatic, hitting a buzzer beatingjumper at the end of the third quarter to cool off the Cougars’comeback hopes.

“For our first game we didn’t do to bad,” said FC head coachChris Jordan. “Defensively we have to get better. We did not playboth ends of the floor very hard.”

Jordan got good guard play from his senior swingman Jarvis Hunt,who dished out seven assists and collected two steals. Hunt alsoadded eight points.

The Bulldogs avenged last year’s opening loss to Lawrence Countywith the win.

“Last year they came in here and beat us by 35,” added Jordan.”They are rebuilding like we were last year. We’ve still got a waysto go.”

`Both Jordan and Wilson were playing without the services ofpossible district starters, due to the football playoffs.

`Lawrence County, who got 15 points and eight boards fromLadarius Jenkins and 11 points from Timmrek Gholar, will travel toAmite County Thursday night tipping at 6 p.m.

The Bulldogs travel to Loyd Star for a Saturday night contestbeginning at 5. FC plays host to West Lincoln on Tuesday, startingat 6.