DAILY JOURNAL SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
MOORESVILLE
The Franklin Community High School girls basketball team got the better of Class 4A No. 10 Mooresville against the final three quarters Friday night.
The only problem was the Grizzly Cubs had fallen in a 20-0 hole to start the game in a 61-45 loss in Mid-State Conference action.
“At the start of the game we didn’t play with any fire,” said Franklin coach Walt Raines, whose team fell to 8-8 and 1-3 in the Mid-State. “Three rebounds in the first half is not going to get it done. We played on our heels. You can’t play that way.
You have to get up into them and get after them the whole time.
“The group in the second half played hard and got after it. They got in their face all the time. That’s what you have to do.”
Franklin’s McKenna Bertsch finally sank a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in the first quarter. The Pioneers, who led 20-3 at the end of the first quarter, pushed the advantage to 39-19 at halftime.
“Mooresville is a very
good team. We spotted them 20 points, and you can’t do that,” Raines said.
Franklin junior forward Whitney Shapp led the Cubs with 12 points and six rebounds.
Sarah Sullivan had five rebounds, all in the second half.
“Shapp, (Elizabeth) Berrones and all the girls went in there attacked the boards a little bit (in the second half),” Raines said. “We had to play with aggressiveness both on offense and defense.”
Senior guard/forward Sarah Corbin was high for the Pioneers (14-4, 4-0 Mid-State) with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Corbin sank nine of 17 shots.
“Sarah had a really nice game, and she was very active in there,” Mooresville coach Mark Hurt said.
Pioneers junior forward Morgan Matt added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
“We had a good first quarter and the game kind of leveled off after that,” Hurt said.
“You have to give Franklin credit. They didn’t quit. They’re down 20 points at half and they played hard. Our girls did a good job maintaining the lead. It’s a good conference win for us.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Cubs, who host Class 4A No. 3 Columbus North (13-1) on Tuesday.
“We have a nine-player rotation, and all nine have to play (with
intensity) the entire time,”
Raines said.
