By Brannon King

For the FCT

The weather was cold outside the gym in Belgreen but the outside shooting was hot for the Bulldogs as they picked up a win over Franklin County and area rival Tharptown by a score of 84-52 Friday night.

Belgreen connected on 11 three-pointers in the win over the Wildcats.

Despite the loss, Tharptown was able to make nine three-pointers of their own but Belgreen was just too much for the Wildcats.

Belgreen got off to a good start outscoring Tharptown 25-13 in the first quarter. Chase Landers picked up 11 of his game-high 27 points in the opening period.

The second quarter belonged to Belgreen’s Ben Inman. Inman scored eight points in the quarter sending the Bulldogs to halftime with a comfortable 47-25 lead.

Chase Landers all but put the game away as he hit four three-pointers in the third quarter to give Belgreen a 71-38 lead.

Nine Bulldogs scored in the game while eight Wildcats got into the scoring column.

Landers led Belgreen with 27 points followed by Inman with 24. Josh DeVaney had 13 points followed by Dustin Smith (9), Will Barnwell (3), Dakota Davis (2), Jared Mitchell (2), Hugo Castillo (2) and Abram Thorn (2).

Tharptown was led in scoring by Kelby Hallmark, Max Nolen and Riley Nolen who each had 10 points. Nathan Chaney picked up nine followed by Heath Hatton (8), Drake Lawson (3), Christian Garcia (1) and John Staggs (1).

Belgreen head coach Patrick Odom was pleased with the way his team played.

“I thought we played a complete basketball game tonight against a good team,” Odom said.

“We really shot the ball well after an early stretch where we didn’t. It’s a good step for us because every area game is so big.  I’m proud of our guys for a good win.”