Bryson City – Monday the Lady Devils hosted Franklin in a non conference tilt. For three quarters the two teams played dead even, but the Panthers opened the 4th quarter by pulling away. Eventually Franklin was able to get a tough 65-52 win.
Swain jumped out to an early 10-0 lead to open the game. They would eventually push that lead to 17 before the Panthers were able to close the lead to 31-29 at the half. Swain outshot the Panthers percentage wise, 38% to 35%, but the Panthers owned the glass, outrebounding Swain 44 to 26. That included 22 offensive rebounds which lead to 23 second chance points by Franklin.
Franklin’s Tori Ensley ignited the Panthers comeback as she scored 20 of her game high 31 points in the second half. Ensley added 11 rebounds, which included 8 offensive rebounds, 7 steals and 4 assists.
Mazie Helpman paced Swain’s balanced attack with a team high 12 points and added 4 assists as well. Amaya Hicks and Mya Burrows-Kurr finished with 8 points each and Savana Smith pulled down a team high 9 rebounds.