By Nick Nunn
Staff Writer

The Morgan County Middle School’s basketball teams played against Greene County’s Carson Middle School last Wednesday for their second matchup of the year.
The girls’ 51-28 victory was their second win against Greene this season, but the boys suffered their second loss against Greene, a 24-25 heartbreaker which was tense up until the final seconds of gameplay.
Morgan County took a 21-2 lead over Greene County in the first quarter, thanks largely to Tatyana Davis, who scored 14 points in the first six minutes of the game. Davis would go on to score 27 points in total.
Morgan Walker contributed seven more points to the team’s 51-point final.
The girls team is now 6-1 in their regular season.
The boys didn’t fare as well as the girls in their bout versus Greene County, being outscored by a single point in the final seconds of the game.
The teams were evenly matched, as was evinced by the score by quarters: after the first quarter Morgan County was behind 7-9, they were 13-16 at halftime, then 17-19 after the third quarter.
In the final minutes of the last quarter, Morgan County took the lead back one last time, thanks to two points from Lamarcus Stokes, but, by the last minute of the game, Morgan County fell back behind to a 24-25 score, and they weren’t able to recover by the buzzer.
“Our first encounter with Greene County, we weren't physically and mentally ready against them,” said Coach Milfred Franklin. “This time we couldn't execute our offense when it came down to making layups at the basket. That's what kept us from getting a lead or allowing us to play on our toes and not our heels the entire game.” 
“I'm seeing progress overall with the players as a team even though our record doesn't show it. We are basically preparing ourselves to make a run at the end of the season and deep in the playoffs.”
The MCMS teams have a long break during the holiday season but will be back to play Carver Middle School on Jan. 4 at home.

Printed in the December 27, 2012 edition