MONTICELLO — The Lawrence County Cougars and the FranklinCounty Lady Bulldogs claimed the big hardware in this weekend’sLawrence County Invitational. In the boys final, the host Cougarsdefeated Franklin County 55-44. In the girls finale, the LadyBulldogs trounced the LCHS Lady Cougars 72-29.

Salem and Vicksburg St. Aloysius also participated in thetournament. St. Al defeated Salem in both the boys and girlsconsolation games.

In the boys final, Coach Preston Wilson’sCougars were sparked by senior guard Cayce Lee, who was namedtournament MVP. Lee had 10 points, 4 steals, and 5 assists.

Oliver Peyton also had a good night, with 10 points, 8 rebounds,5 steals, and 5 steals. Perrin Wells led Lawrence County in scoringwith 14 points. Albert Brown had 6 rebounds.

With the win, Lawrence County’s boys improved to 12-5 overall.Chris Jordan’s Franklin County team fell to 2-9.

Back in November, Lawrence County overwhelmed Franklin County inMeadville, as several Bulldog regulars were still chasing a statefootball championship. Things were much tougher for LCHS this time.The fast-paced, high-energy game saw the two teams tied after onequarter (16-16), and the Cougars led by just 3 (28-25) at thehalf.

“Our kids played hard,” said a pleased Wilson. “I thought Caycereally gave us a spark this week. I’m proud of the effort. It’sgoing to take great effort and execution if we’re to have anysuccess the rest of the way.”

Franklin County was led by Jamie Collins, who had 16 points.Jason Hunt and Josh Tillman each had 8 points. Bo Tillman was amajor force inside for the Bulldogs, before fouling out in thethird quarter.

Vicki Rutland’s Lady Cougars (1-16) got that elusive first win,beating Salem 58-29 in Friday’s first-round game, but the LadyCougars were no match for Coach Charles Moore’s Lady Bulldogs inSaturday’s final. Franklin County broke to a 24-6 first-quarterlead, stumbled a bit in the second quarter, then blew the game wideopen in the third.

Shareka Hunt, the tournament MVP, led the 10-4 Lady Bulldogswith 21 points. Paige Webster, who scored 21 in a Friday win overSt. Aloysius, added 10.

Candice Little and Samantha Showers led Lawrence County with 6points each. In the Lady Cougars’ win over Salem, Kasey May had 14points, and Little had 12.