Although Franklin was able to keep the contest close for most of the evening, Surry County prevailed 70-65 in the championship game of the Tri-Rivers District girls’ basketball tournament Saturday night.

Franklin trailed by just 2 points at the end of the third quarter. Pashawn Hunt hit a layup and a free throw to cut the Surry lead to 48-45 at the 1:31 mark of the third quarter. After Surry’s Brittanie Lane sank one of two free throws, Franklin’s Tiara Rogers scored on a layup to drop the Surry lead to 49-47 at the end of the third period.

But Surry came through with the first seven points of the fourth quarter to open the game back up. The Lady Broncos did not give up. From 3:17 to 1:50 of the fourth quarter, Franklin scored six straight points to again cut the Surry lead to 65-63 with all of the points in the drive coming from Iesha Boone and Kierra Lee. But the Lady Cougars regrouped to pull ahead. Lane hit a jumper and RaeChaun Edwards hit a crucial 3-pointer to knock the lead back up to 70-63 with 1:27 to play.

Just when it looked like the Lady Broncos were about to be buried in the second quarter, the team rallied to drop a 12-point deficit to just seven points at the half. After a shaky first quarter for both teams, the Lady Cougars collected themselves and pushed the lead to 29-17 with 3:51 to play in the half on two free throws by Edwards.

Franklin picked up the pace to close the gap. Boone was a spark plug off the bench, picking up several needed rebounds and scoring five points in the final 2:47 of the half.

“She turned it around, absolutely,” said Mona Sumblin, Franklin head coach. “That has been the case the last couple of games.”

Sumblin was not happy with the officiating.

“Every time we come here, we can’t get any calls. We missed some layups, too, shots that we normally make,” she said. “It (the officiating) was tight initially. Then rolling all over the floor, going to the hole and no fouls called. You’ve got to have that. With tight calling at the beginning of the game, and you’re cleaning things up, and then you let it get out of hand at the end. Then the girls get frustrated and it carries over into the game.”

Hunt finished the game with 20 points, Lee added 14 points, and Boone and Bradley both scored 13 to lead Franklin. For Surry, Whitney Johnson scored 19 points.

By finishing second in the Tri-Rivers District, Franklin has qualified for the Group A Region A Division 1 playoffs. The Lady Broncos will host Chincoteague at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first round.