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For the Patrick Henry girls, the anxiety began with a broken clock. And anxiety turned to panic in a hurry, thanks to Franklin County's full-court press.

The third quarter got off to an unusual start Tuesday night, with the Patriots scrambling from the locker room to the court just in time to avoid a technical foul. By the end of the period, the visiting Eagles had blown open a tight game en route to a 70-56 victory in the Western Valley District opener for both teams.

Franklin County (11-1, 1-0) led by five at halftime and, after a round of warm-ups, sent its starters onto the floor for the beginning of the second half. One problem: the Eagles and the officials were the only ones out there as the final seconds of the halftime clock ticked away.

The Patriots (8-3, 0-1) were still in the locker room, listening to coach Toree Dunleavy give final instructions. The countdown clock in the locker room was broken and they'd lost track of time.

"She was like, 'Keep your heads up, we're going to work on our shots a little bit here at halftime,' " PH point guard Kate Norbo recalled the coach saying. "Then someone runs in and yells, 'We have 20 seconds!' Everybody starts sprinting out...

"Franklin County was waiting for us, and we had to jump right in there. She didn't even have time to tell us who was in the game."

The clock also wasn't functioning in the Franklin County locker room, but the Eagles had wrapped up their meeting quickly.

"The coaches were done talking, so we just came out," Eagles junior Shea Smith said.

Whatever the message, the Eagles received it well. They put together a 21-2 run to extend their lead to 59-38. Their full-court press helped create seven turnovers during the surge.

"We run the press every break, and we run it every game," said Franklin County center Brittany Nelms, who scored a game-high 21 points. "It just depends on which one Coach wants to put in."

Smith added 18 points and Miranda Smith chipped in 12 for the Eagles, who are looking to return to the top of the WVD after several rebuilding years.

"Everybody's going to be after us now, so we've got to watch out," Shea Smith said. "This was a big game for us to start off."

The Patriots, who got 18 points from sophomore Sarah Williams and 14 from a foul-addled LaShe Walker, also hope to be district contenders. But they know they'll need to work on breaking the press.

"Their press killed us," Dunleavy said. "We weren't getting to our spots in our press offense, and I thought we weren't flashing to the ball. At times, it looked like our kids didn't want the ball and they jump all over that."

PH slowed the tempo in the fourth quarter and battled to make the score more respectable. And Norbo, who scored nine points, said the team should be able to put this one behind it quickly.

"Now we'll have it on film," she said. "We'll know what to watch and know what to work on."

FRANKLIN COUNTY (11-1, 1-0)

Jamison 4 0-0 8, M. Smith 5 0-2 12, S. Smith 8 2-6 18, Burwell 3 2-4 8, Nelms 7 7-8 21, Hancock 0 0-2 0, Perez 0 1-4 1, Hunter 0 0-0 0, Brooks 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 0-0 2, Howell 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 12-26 70.

PATRICK HENRY (8-3, 0-1)

Norbo 4 0-0 9, Williams 7 3-3 18, Doane 1 0-0 2, Walker 7 0-0 14, Flint 2 0-0 5, Preston 2 0-0 4, Buschor 0 0-0 0, Salters 2 0-2 4, Keeling 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 3-5 56.

Franklin County 14 19 26 11--70

Patrick Henry 13 15 10 18--56

3-point goals -- FC (M. Smith 2); PH (Norbo, Williams, Flint). Fouled out -- Walker. JV -- Franklin County 59-20.