FRANKLIN FURNACE - Better but not best. At least not yet.

The young Green Bobcats continued to nip at victories' heels, but they came up short again Tuesday in a 51-49 loss to the Portsmouth East Tartans.

The Bobcats had a chance with six seconds left to tie the game, but they missed two shots inside as they failed to score. A third shot by Brad DeHart from the baseline went in the basket after the buzzer.

"We're getting a little better defensively, and we're doing a better job rebounding the ball," Green coach Kevin Sheridan said. "We had some opportunities. We just need to learn how to get over the hump."

A big difference in the game came at the foul line. Green was only 8 of 21 while East was 15 of 23.

"The way we shot foul shots was disappointing," Sheridan said.

East was up 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, but Brian Ramey had 7 points in the second quarter as Green came back to take a 27-26 halftime lead.

Lewis had 6 of Green's 8 points in the third quarter and the Bobcats were up 35-31 with under a minute to play in the quarter. But East scored twice and tied the game.

Lewis had 16 points, four steals and two assists for the Bobcats. Ramey added 12 points and 10 rebounds while DeHart pulled down 12 rebounds.

East1412916-51

Green1017814-49

PORTSMOUTH EAST (6-3, 2-2):

Jeff Swick 2 0 0-2 4, Nathan Williams 1 0 2-2 4, Brent Downing 4 0 3-4 11, Andrew Conley 0 2 6-8 12, Eric Runquist 3 0 2-3 8, Travis Riggs 5 0 2-4 12. Totals: 15

(2)

15-23

51. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 7-21=21.

GREEN (3-6, 1-3):

C.J. Blevins 0 0 0-2 0, Jason Bester 1 0 2-3 4, Derek Lewis 4 2 2-7 16, Nathan Patten 1 0 0-0 2, Adam Sparks 4 0 0-0 8, Brian Ramey 4 1 1-3 12, John Bowen 1 0 0-0 2, Brad DeHart 1 0 3-6 5, Mark Castro 0 0-0 0, John Dawson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-56

(3-13)

8-21

49. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 17-19=36 (DeHart 12, Ramey 10). Steals: 12 (Lewis 4, Bester 3). Turnovers: 12. Assists: 10 (Ramey 3, Bester 2, Lewis 2).