FRANKLIN—The Franklin Broncos battled hard during the entire game against the Greensville Eagles but came up short at the buzzer. Playing on Jan. 31 at the Peggy Wilkins gym at Franklin High School, the lead of the game changed many times throughout the game before the Broncos went down 62-59 in the final seconds.

After a slow start, the Eagles opened a small lead about midway through the first quarter. Three-point baskets by Corey Porter and Fred Lassiter helped the Broncos close the lead to 9-13 by the end of the first quarter.

A basket by Marcus Stephens put the home team ahead 20-19 at the 3:56 mark in the second quarter. The Broncos, having a good second quarter, outscored the Eagles 19-12 and took a 28-25 lead to the locker room by the end of the first half.

After the half, both teams exchanged the lead a few times as the Broncos narrowly held the lead 39-37 by the end of the third quarter.

The action picked up in the final quarter of play as the Eagles fought back to take the lead 46-44 with 5:49 remaining to be played. With 3:32 left on the clock and leading 55-49, the Eagles slowed the game down with a freeze forcing the Broncos to foul.

But not being in the bonus position on fouls, the Eagles had to take the ball out. Forcing a few turnovers, the Broncos Lassiter closed the score to 57-55 with 42 seconds remaining in the game.

The Eagles after a Bronco turnover and foul increased their lead to 60-55 with 28.9 seconds left on the clock. On the next Bronco possession, Lassiter connected again going down under to close the score to 60-57 with 25.6 seconds left to play.

During the Eagles throw in following the basket, Lassiter intercepted the pass and dropped in an easy basket, reducing the Eagle lead to 60-59 with 19.5 seconds remaining to be played.

Quickly, as the Eagles threw the ball into play, the Broncos committed a foul sending the Eagles player to the free throw line. Both free throws were successful and the Eagles’ lead increased to 62-59.

The game clock was down to 3.7 seconds and the Broncos had the ball and a timeout. Getting the ball into play quickly the final three point tying shot was released and barely missed its mark as the buzzer sounded.

The Broncos had three players in double figures. They were led by Lassiter with 22 points, Terry Warren with 13 and Corey Porter with 11 points. For the Eagles, Jaylon Meredith had 18 points and Jordan Peeples scored 10 points.

Bronco coach Danny Dillon remarked after the game, “the team fought hard and we gave them everything that we could give them. We answered everything they had except in the last few seconds of the game.”