Center Grove got knocked out of last year’s Johnson County girls basketball tournament a bit prematurely. This year’s squad wasn’t about to leave empty-handed again.
“It kind of lit a little fire under our butt,” Trojans coach Shawn Sanders said.
Cassidy Hardin turned in a dominating all-around performance, and a 16-0 run at the end of the first quarter gave Center Grove enough of a cushion to hold on for a 63-47 win against Franklin in Saturday’s championship game at Edinburgh.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryWhiteland defeated Indian Creek for third place, 57-47, behind 20 points from Mackenzie Blazek, and Greenwood topped the host Lancers in the fifth-place game, 49-34.
In the title clash, the Trojans (5-1) never trailed. Franklin tied it twice early on a pair of Delanie Hill 3-pointers, but after the Grizzly Cubs (3-3) cut it to 9-8 with 5:15 left in the opening quarter, Center Grove went on a tear.
Emma LeMasters started the blitz with a bucket at the 4:27 mark, and Hardin followed with a 3-pointer 45 seconds later. Back-to-back treys from Amy Davis stretched it to 22-8, and Hardin capped the quarter with another 3 to put the Trojans up by 17.
“We came out there with a lot of energy and adrenaline,” Hardin said, “and I think they weren’t quite ready for that.”
The game was much more evenly matched after that, but by then the damage had been done. Franklin got as close as eight points on a pair of occasions in the fourth quarter, but each time the Grizzly Cubs got to within single digits, Center Grove answered with a bucket on the next possession.
“They have so many run-stoppers, we just couldn’t get over the hump,” Franklin coach Josh Sabol said.
Hardin was often the one halting the Grizzly Cubs’ momentum. The junior finished with a game-high 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers in the process, and she also collected 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Davis had 11 points for Center Grove, while LeMasters and Allison Utterback each contributed nine. Utterback also dished out four assists.
Sanders wasn’t particularly thrilled with his team’s play over the last three quarters, but he credited Franklin with making life difficult for the Trojans.
“Franklin speeds you up and makes you do things faster than you’re used to doing them,” he said. “They make you do the physical things faster than you’re used to doing, but they also make you think faster than you’re used to doing.”
Despite the setback, Sabol found plenty of cause for optimism — particularly from freshman Hailee Robbins, who broke out with a team-high 19 points. Hill added 13 points for the Grizzly Cubs, who will host a rematch with Center Grove on Tuesday.
Regardless of what happens in that one, though, the county title belongs to the Trojans again — which was enough to put a smile on Sanders’ face.
“I didn’t think we played a very good game,” he said, “but we won — and we’re celebrating a championship. So that’s just me being a picky coach.”
