Four Lady Braves reach double figures in region win

(Franklin, GA) — Four Lady Brave starters reached double figures in Friday night’s 64-43 home win over region foe Jordan.

The win extended the Lady Braves’ regular season record to 8-6 and evened up the important Region 5-AA record at 2-2.

The girls built a halftime lead of 27-18 but it was a huge second half effort on both ends of the court that keyed the win as the Lady Braves outscored the Jackets 28-7 in the third quarter.

Sophomore Sophia Long led the scoring with a career high 18 and junior Tori Caldwell was right behind her finishing with 16 points.

Hermonie Garza continued to shine with 14 points and stalwart senior Haley Bennett was the fourth Lady Brave in double digits as she scored 13.

“I’m just real proud of our girls’ effort right now sometimes we are inconsistent but we have a lot of young players filling some spots and it is going to take some time,” said Coach Helen Akins after Friday’s win.

The Lady Brave head coach says some of her younger players have really contributed this season especially of late.

“Over the Christmas break, sophomore Hermonie Garza really came on for us — she is a really athletic kid and she just needed to get some minutes. She has now earned a starting spot and I’m just really proud of how she has come along,” says Akins.

Freshman Mykhia Echols saw a lot of quality varsity minutes Friday night and Akins hopes the young post player can be a big benefit to the team later in the season.

“Mykhia Echols is another one who is really long and has some size which is really what we are lacking in our first six players. She has really played well for our JV so we are trying to get her some varsity minutes so she can help us out towards the end of the season,” added Akins.

Mykhia Echols goes up for the shot as Sophia Long battles for position in Friday night’s win

The squad battled back strong from a 13-point halftime deficit at Bremen on Wednesday night before ultimately falling to the Blue Devils by a final score of 54-49.

The Lady Braves had three finish in double figures in the region loss with Long again leading the charge with 15 and Caldwell adding 13.

Morgan Kay was hot from the beyond the arc dropping four from long-range to finish her night with 11.

Coach Akins says Kay has really come along as an outside shooter this season.

The Lady Braves will be back in action with three straight Region 5-AA home games starting this Friday night as front-running Lamar County comes to Franklin.

The team then hosts Temple on Saturday night and a rematch with Bremen in Franklin on Tuesday, January 15. All three games are scheduled to tip at 6:00 PM and will be crucial in determining the seeding for the end of season Region 5-AA tournament.