FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Forty-six is the magic number for the Franklin boys basketball team.
At least for now.
The Rebels won their 46th District 11-AAA game in a row on Friday by defeating a talented Centennial team 64-57 at Franklin High School.
“They’re good,” Franklin coach Jay Johnson said about the Cougars. “We knew Drew (Kelly) would be back and Allante (McLemore) has been playing great lately.”
Kelly returned from a stress fracture in his foot to score 21 and grab 10 boards while McLemore had 20 points.
But this night belonged to the home team.
The Rebels were led by Kevin Kegarise with 20 points. The guard drained six 3-pointers and the biggest came with 2:55 left in the game. Centennial rallied to make the score 52-50, but Kegarise delivered the knock-out blow by sinking a 3 from the corner with two defenders in his face.
“(Kegarise) is a huge weapon to have and I’ve seen him light so many teams up,” Centennial coach Brian Kelly said. “You know it’s coming and you work on it in practice, but he still gets 3s.”
That made the score 55-50 and the Franklin defense came up big down the stretch to lock up the win.
Kelly and Kegarise both scored nine in the first quarter and the teams were knotted at 17 heading into the second.
Then after an ugly second quarter in which the schools combined for seven points, the Cougars took a 21-20 lead into the locker room.
“You look up at the board and think that you’ve only held them to two points, but then you’ve only scored three,” Johnson said. “That was disheartening because I’m thinking we could be getting away from them at that point.”
In the third, Franklin did get the lead it wanted by closing out the frame on a 14-3 run. The run was sparked by a Michael Young 3 and that put the Rebels up 34-33.
Young finished the game with 15 points and Jamaul Starnes scored 14 and pulled in eight boards.
The Rebels are now 18-4 overall and 8-0 in District 11-AAA and the Cougars are 17-4, 5-3.
AND THE STREAK GOES ON — Opposing District 11-AAA teams can try to down play Franklin’s 46 game district winning streak, but it is always there. No matter what teams do. Just ask Centennial coach Brian Kelly. “It’s a mystique and it does matter,” he said. “It’s on everybody’s mind. You can try and down play it if you want to as a coach, but to me it’s just one of those things. You have to face it and come in here and do the best you can. Most regions in the state have that team that everybody is out to beat and just can’t seem to beat.”
FRANKLIN LADIES ROLL — The Franklin girl’s basketball team warmed up the large crowd with a 61-27 over the Lady Cougars of Centennial High.
Franklin (7-14, 3-5) was led by Reiley Heaberlin with 25 points and 23 of those came in the first half.
Franklin led 47-13 at the half after outscoring Centennial (0-21, 0-8) 30-3 in the second quarter.
“This game is a confidence builder for us because we’ve lost some tough ones recently,” Franklin coach Grover Levy said. “I’ve think we’ve been playing well, but it hasn’t been showing up in the win/loss column.”
Levy said his team’s defense and rebounding helped them earn their third District 11-AAA win of the season.
“We played the way we wanted to play,” said the second year Franklin coach. “We pressured the ball, rebounded and pushed the tempo tonight.”
Emily Crowl scored 12 for the home team and sophomore Macie Parsons came off the bench and played well.
The Lady Cougars were led by Maykenya Marable with 14 points.
THE STATS
BOYS
Centennial 17 4 15 21 — 57
Franklin 17 3 25 19 — 64
Centennial (57) — Jones 6, Allante McLemore 20, Brown 2, Williams 2, Stroop 6, Means, Drew Kelly 21.
Franklin (64) — Henry 5, Glover 4, Miller-McLemore 2, Kevin Kegarise 20, Michael Young 15, Hampton 2, Jamaul Starnes 14, Brown, Worley 2.
3-point goals — Centennial 3 (McLemore 3); Franklin 8 (Henry, Kegarise 6, Young).
Records: Centennial 17-4, 5-3 District 11-AAA; Franklin 18-4, 8-0.
GIRLS
Centennial 10 3 11 3 — 27
Franklin 17 30 11 3 — 61
Centennial (27) — Paynter 2, Estes 2, Makenya Marable 14, Werner 2, Kidd 6, Carington 1.
Franklin (61) — Taylor, Emily Crowl 12, Parsons 5, Shelton 6, Solima, St. Lawrence 1, Parks 9, Reiley Heaberlin 25, Pinnell, Jones, Pewitt 3, Bartley.
3 –point goals — Centennial 0; Franklin 6 (Parsons, Shelton 2, Parks 3).
Records: Centennial 0-21, 0-8; Franklin 7-14, 3-5.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 @ 11:45 am on the category Nashville, Franklin High, Centennial High, Tennessee boys high school basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.