Miranda Pederson/Daily News Franklin-Simpson’s Arndre Gooch (left) and Courtney Dalcourt (right) double-team Logan County’s Mitchell Moore on Monday at Russellville High School.

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RUSSELLVILLE — Top-seeded Franklin-Simpson entered the opening round of the District 13 Tournament a heavy favorite against No. 4 Logan County.

It didn’t take Franklin long to show why, crushing the Cougars 70-26 on Monday at Russellville High School.

The Wildcats shot 55 percent and held Logan County to 27.8 percent to improve to 23-6 on the season.

“I think our guys handled their business tonight,” Franklin-Simpson coach David Clark said. “We’re a senior-dominated team and we’ve been through this before. Sometimes when you’re heavily favored there can be a letdown. I thought our guys were really ready to play and had a lot of respect for Logan County.”

Franklin-Simpson sprinted out to a 13-0 lead and never looked back. Logan County (2-25) got as close as nine points, but the Wildcats used a 28-2 run to seal the victory before halftime.

“We came out focused and ready to play,” FSHS junior Courtney Dalcourt said. “It was all about trying to kill their confidence. It’s postseason, so anything can happen.”

Dalcourt paced Franklin-Simpson with 14 points. Cedrick Adams added 12 points and Rayco Bryant and Arndre Gooch chipped in 10 points each.

Franklin-Simpson finished 26 assists on 29 made field goals.

“This bunch just wants to win,” Clark said. “They do a nice job of checking their egos before the game. Obviously everybody loves to shoot and score points, but I think they have their eyes on a bigger prize.”

Logan County was held to 10-for-36 from the field, 2-for-9 from 3-point range. The Cougars scored nine points in the third quarter, but failed to score more than six in any of the other three.

“I thought our defense was good, especially in the first half,” Clark said. “In the third quarter, they started attacking the basket a little bit and we started reaching and slapping and grabbing. That’s a mental thing. When you start scoreboard watching, you kind of have a little letdown.”

Nick Whittington had nine points to lead Logan County.

With the victory, Franklin-Simpson advances to the Region 4 Tournament next week at E.A. Diddle Arena. But before they think about a region championship, the Wildcats are focused on a third straight district title.

Franklin goes for the three-peat when they face the winner of tonight’s Russellville/Todd County Central game at 7 p.m. Friday at Russellville High School.

“It’s something that hasn’t been done in school history,” Dalcourt said. “We’re just trying to take it one game at a time.”

LCHS 6 5 9 6 - 26

FSHS 20 28 16 6 - 70

LCHS - Whittington 9, Adler 7, Moore 6, Lancaster 4.

FSHS - Dalcourt 14, Adams 12, Gooch 10, R. Bryant 10, T. Bryant 9, Lewis 5, Murphree 4, Flippin 2, Patterson 2, Curtis 2.