MEADVILLE &045; You did not want to blink in Franklin County’s gym Friday.

Afraid a slight budge might mean they missed something, fans froze in their positions in the Bulldogs’ gym until the ending had been determined, which was until the final buzzer sounded after two overtimes.

When it was all said and done, Franklin County had outlasted the Tigers 61-57 thanks to some clutch free throws in the final overtime.

&uot;I think that’s what the whole division will be like,&uot; Bulldogs head coach Chris Jordan said. &uot;We’ve played everybody except Hazlehurst and North Pike, and it’s been the same with everybody else. It’s a lot like last year. It’s not a good idea to be in that one or two spot.&uot;

Jefferson County (10-12, 6-2) came into Friday’s game atop Region 7-3A, but early foul trouble for senior point guard Joshfer Nichols meant the smaller Tigers had to rely on their post play of Dudley Guice Jr. and Joseph Kemp.

Nichols, who did not score a point until the fourth period, fouled out in with 3.4 seconds left in the first overtime, sending Deandrea Cameron to the line to break a 52-52 tie.

&uot;We knew you gotta stop (Nichols) because that’s how they hurt you,&uot; Jordan said. &uot;They’re well-coached. Last time they wore us out at both ends of the floor.&uot;

Cameron, who finished with 12 points, obliged by making both chances from the charity stripe.

Chris Carradine threw a long inbounds pass to Guice, whose receiving skills came in handy with a nice one-handed grab.

Guice snared it and immediately called a time out. Out of the break Quinton Keys lobbed a pass from Guice toward the goal that he put up and had blocked by Franklin big man Zach Thomas as time expired, much to the delight of Bulldog players and fans.

However, referees ruled Thomas fouled Guice with his body, meaning the Trinity Episcopal transfer had two shots to send the game into a second extra frame.

Guice stepped to the line, shut out the noise

echoing from every wall and canned both attempts for 54-54 score.

&uot;Dudley stepped up and showed he is a top-notch athlete by knocking down those two free throws,&uot; Jefferson County head coach Marcus Walton said. &uot;He played well for us on the block tonight.&uot;

Guice finished with a team-high 19 points.

In the second overtime, Thomas, who had 14 to lead Franklin County, put the Bulldogs ahead by three, 57-54, on a putback and making the front end of a one-and-one on consecutive trips down the floor.

&uot;We had to get on his case a little bit,&uot; Jordan said of Thomas. &uot;He did a good job for us at the end, but he missed a lot of easy buckets in the first quarter that would’ve helped us.&uot;

Carradine had a chance to tie with a trip to the line but managed only to close the gap to 58-57 with 44.5 seconds remaining.

Cameron answered by knocking down his three opportunities from the line, and the Tigers got careless with the ball, perhaps due to fatigue.

&uot;We came out and worked hard with our intensity. We fought hard from start to finish,&uot; Walton said. &uot;The only thing is on the road you’ve gotta do the little things. We didn’t do a good job of blocking out.&uot;

The Bulldogs built a five-point lead in the fourth period before Jefferson County fought back to tie it up at 40 on a Nichols putback with 1:39 left in regulation.

An Eddie Davenport 3-pointer a possession later put the Tigers up 43-41 with 1:21 left after Cameron made the front end at the Franklin County goal.

After a Thomas layup tied the game, Davenport made two clutch free throws to put Jefferson County back up by a deuce.

Jasper O’Quinn, who locked the game at 45 with 40 seconds left, had a great look at a trey in the closing seconds.

His attempt was picture-perfect from the moment it left his hands to its arc in the air to when it reached the rim. However, the shot only went halfway down before bouncing out.