The New Franklin boys won a lopsided game, 84-32, Saturday afternoon over Fayette to secure the third-place trophy in the Glasgow Tournament.

The win improves New Franklin’s record to 4-1 overall on the young season. Fayette drops to 1-2.

New Franklin, the fourth seed, defeated host team Glasgow, seeded fifth, in the opening round, 72-51, but lost to top-seeded and eventual tournament champion Westran by four points in overtime in the semifinals to drop to the third-place game. Fayette, seeded sixth, upset third-seeded Slater 57-55 in the first round before losing to second-seeded Cairo 72-39 in the semifinals.

New Franklin was hot coming out of the gate Saturday. The Bulldogs scored the first basket of the game just eight seconds after tipoff to open a 13-3 run over the first four minutes of the opening period. The lead expanded to 14 points after eight minutes.

“We came out of the gates in this one really pushing the pace, and that continued through the entire game,” said New Franklin coach Jim Schlotzhauer.

Fayette was held to single-digit scoring in all but the first quarter, while New Franklin continued to pour on the points, putting the game out of reach early. By halftime, the Bulldogs held a 45-18 advantage that would continue to expand throughout the second half.

“I was really pleased with our lineup top to bottom,” Schlotzhauer said. “We have 12 guys that I can trust to play hard, be in the right spot, and defend pretty well.”

New Franklin junior Drake Clark led all scorers with 17 points on the night, followed by junior Owen Curry with 13. Junior Jake Marshall and senior Clayton Wilmsmeyer each finished with 10.

Falcon senior Chase Allen-Jackman once again paced Fayette with 16 points. Senior Malakai Graves finished with eight points and 12 rebounds.

“Its nice to see Malakai rebounding well and Chase has obviously paced us well in scoring so far,” said Fayette coach Jon Bishop. “I know this team is hungry to be better.”

The two teams were to meet again on Tuesday in Fayette’s home opener after the Advertiser had gone to press. Tipoff was scheduled for 7:45.

Tuesday’s return to regular-season action marks the first of five games for the Bulldogs before the Christmas break. The only home game in that stretch will be on Tuesday, December 13, against Slater.

“From now until Christmas, we are going to see who can really help us and work hard the entire time that they are on the floor,” Schlotzhauer said. “We are going to focus on ourselves and what we can really improve with our style.

“These kids have really bought into how I wanted to play. I think they see that they can be really successful doing it, and everyone can be successful in this system. Ultimately though, we want this group to be as prepared as possible to compete in our conference and district.”

Tuesday’s game was also the first of five scheduled for Fayette before heading into the break. The Falcons face a grueling schedule that includes Class 3 Brookfield and area powerhouses Cairo and Harrisburg. Fayette will take on Scotland County, winless as of this writing, in the last game of 2022 on Monday, December 19. The Falcons return to the court for the New Franklin Tournament to start the new year.