MEADVILLE – The Franklin County Bulldogs collected a rarehardwood sweep of rival West Lincoln Tuesday night in a battle ofschools just 20 miles apart.

The Bulldogs won the boys game 51-49 behind forward EdwardMcGhee’s last-second basket. The Lady Dawgs buried the Lady Bears58-15 behind 11 points and 11 rebounds from senior Cee CeeMiller.

Franklin County travels to Hazlehurst Friday night while WestLincoln is on the road at Natchez Cathedral.

Franklin 51, W. Lincoln 49

In the boys game, the Bears (10-5) rolled out to a 24-20 leadbehind some crisp shooting from junior guard Jay Case. West Lincolnled 37-31 at the end of three quarters of play before the Bulldogsmounted a rally.

“We played a lot harder in the last few minutes,” said Bulldogshead coach Chris Jordan. “West Lincoln made us work the entiregame. They made us play defense.”

Quick steals by FC junior guard Milton Griffin led to fastbreakpoints for the Bulldogs (2-5), as Franklin County took a 49-42 leadwith 1:39 remaining. The Bears scored seven points in the next 1:21to tie the game off a Brandon Richardson jumper.

The Bulldogs answered with a basket of their own, as EdwardMcGhee added a layup with 11.1 seconds remaining. Franklin County’spressure defense kept the Bears from getting an open look at a shotin the remaining seconds.

“They took us out of our game plan tonight,” said West LincolnBears coach Lane Young. “We missed way too many layups which reallyhurt us in the fourth quarter when they came back.”

Tevin Thomas and Milton Griffin led the Bulldogs with 14 pointsapiece. McGhee finished with 12 points and collected eightrebounds. Also, 6-5 sophomore Anthony Green added 10 points andnine boards.

For the Bears, Jay Case went 7-of-9 at the 3-point line for agame-high 25 points. Jared Case added 10 points and made sixassists.

“Jay is a good shooter,” added Young. “He’s been averaging 19 to20 points a game for us this year.”

Franklin 58, W. Lincoln 15

The Lady Dawgs (9-2) flexed their solid 3A muscles in the girls’game, building a 31-8 halftime lead and never looking back. ElevenFranklin girls scored in the game.

“It was a good win before going into district play for us,” saidFranklin County girls coach Charles Moore, whose team is ranked asone of the tops in the 3A division. “It was also good for some ofour younger girls to get some game time experience.”

Cee Cee Miller led the Lady Dawgs with 11 points. SaBrina Brownadded nine points, while Brianna Grayson and Vintrice Briggs hadsix points apiece.