The Franklinton Rams managed to keep up with the Northern Nash Knights until halftime on Friday, but things quickly went downhill from there. Franklinton's rough 72-52 loss to Northern Nash might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, Franklinton can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 381st, while Northern Nash is ranked 155th).
Several Rams players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Markelle Massenburg, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds and five assists. The team also got some help courtesy of Aiden Hemphill, who scored 11 points.
Even though they lost, Franklinton were working as a unit and finished the game with 13 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Northern Nash only racked up six assists.
Northern Nash was led to victory by CJ Rosser and Randall King. Rosser dropped a double-double on 19 points and 11 rebounds, while King scored 26 points along with six rebounds and three steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points King has scored all season. Trey Battle was another key contributor, scoring six points along with three steals.
Franklinton's loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-12. As for Northern Nash, the win was the ninth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 15-7.
Franklinton's homestand continues as they prepare to take on Rocky Mount at 7:30 p.m. on February 13th. Hopefully Franklinton focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up five on Friday. As for Northern Nash, they will head out on the road to challenge Southern Nash at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Northern Nash knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past eight matches -- so hopefully Southern Nash likes a good challenge.
