The Lithia Springs Lady Lions couldn’t overcome foul trouble and Franklin County’s rebounding edge as they fell to the state-ranked class AAA squad 52-51 in the opening-round of the Chattahoochee Tournament Saturday afternoon.

Lithia’s boys, ranked No. 7 in the state AAAA ranking by Gasports.com, breezed past Lassiter 72-25. Lithia will face the Chattahoochee-West Forsyth winner at 8 p.m. Monday night.

Lithia Springs’s Lady Lions came out hot, as they jumped out to a 17-8 lead after one period and were still on top 28-23 at halftime.

“We shot very well early and after that it wasn’t so good,” said Lady Lions’ coach Dean Head.

Leah Benton got into foul trouble in the third quarter, which created problems. Benton went to the bench with five minutes left in the third quarter and didn’t return until the midway point of the final period.

Franklin County held a 40-38 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

“It was a good up and down game against a good team,” said Head. “But we just didn’t rebound in the second half. And the foul trouble didn’t help. It changed our substitute patterns and that may have hurt us.”

Freshman guard Tashara Jones set the scoring pace for the Lady Lions with 20 points and Benton added 13.

The Lady Lions (4-3) face the loser of last night’s Lassiter-Chattahoochee game Monday afternoon.

In the boys game Lithia Springs (6-2) grabbed a 13-4 lead after one period and coasted to victory.

“We were consistent on defense,” said Lithia Springs’ coach Jason Slate. “Except for the first quarter, when we didn’t execute well offensively, we played well.”

Lithia Springs held a huge 39-16 lead by halftime and was on top 62-23 heading into the final period.

“In the second quarter we starting playing with more patience and were able to score and that got our press going,” recalled Slate.

Trey Bussey led a balanced Lions attack with 15 points, Michael Taylor added 14 and Justin Champion scored 10.

Everybody on the bench got to play in the one-sided game.

Lady Cougars beaten

In a game where both teams had trouble scoring, Alexander’s Lady Cougars fell to the East Paulding Lady Raiders in the opening round of the Cass Hoopfest at Cass High School Saturday afternoon.

Alexander appeared headed for its second win of the season as they vaulted into a 23-10 lead during the third quarter.

East Paulding then went on a 17-0 run and never lost its advantage.

Brianna Yates paced the Lady Cougars (1-8) with 10 points, while Nicole Fasick added eight.

Alexander falls into the loser’s bracket of the tournament and will play the loser’s on last night’s Cedartown-Cass game at noon Monday.

No other details of the game were available at press time.