Center Grove’s balance too much for Flashes

<p>INDIANAPOLIS</p><p>Eight seconds and approximately 15 feet of floor space are all Ella Thompson needed to produce the game’s most important sequence Tuesday night.</p><p>Center Grove’s senior guard knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter, starting a 10-0 scoring run that gave the No. 10 squad in Class 4A much-needed breathing room in a 54-41 victory at Franklin Central.</p><p>The Trojans (11-2) extended their win streak to 10 games.</p><p>Trailing by 15 points at halftime, Franklin Central scrapped back into the game behind 6-foot Indiana Junior All-Star candidate Rachel Loobie. The Flashes had closed to within 42-34 when Thompson hit all net from the right wing with 6:33 remaining in the fourth.</p><p>At the 6:25 mark it was Thompson again, this time from the left wing.</p><p>“My teammates did a really good job of sealing on the backside, and I was just able to knock down the shots,” said Thompson, whose 14 points and eight rebounds led the Trojans. “I wouldn’t have been able to get the shots off without Alainna (Frankel) sealing on one and maybe Katie (Egenolf) or Mary (Wilson) on the other.”</p><p>Wilson, a sophomore, finished with 11 points for Center Grove, while senior guard Emma Utterback and backup Claire Rake were good for nine apiece. Egenolf, a 6-foot freshman reserve, scored four points and contributed seven boards.</p><p>The Flashes entered the contest with a 1-10 record, but Trojans coach Kevin Stuckmeyer knew the hosts had the talent to give his team problems.</p><p>“I thought we did a lot of things well when we were with it, and we had some of those lapses where maybe we weren’t real focused,” Stuckmeyer said. “But some of our role players, like Alainna Frankel, had a really good game. She did a lot of intangible type things.</p><p>“I was nervous about this game because I think (FC) is dangerous with some of the players they have on their team. Thankfully, with our girls we didn’t have a complete letdown, so I guess that’s what you take from it.”</p><p>Loobie led all scorers with 20 points while grabbing a game-best 15 rebounds.</p><p>Center Grove scored the final eight points of the first quarter and the first four of the second to surge to a 28-13 halftime lead.</p><p>Senior Ashley Eck got the scoring run started at 5:21 of the first when she drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing. Rake followed with a basket and then swished a triple from the left baseline.</p><p>Thompson made two of three free throws after being fouled on her own trey attempt 12 seconds into the second stanza. Wilson capped the game-changing 12-0 burst with a baseline jumper.</p><p>Franklin Central’s only lead of the game came when senior Amelia Magyar scored down low to make it 5-3. It was then that the Trojans began to dominate at both ends of the floor, forcing the Flashes into five first-quarter turnovers and eight for the half.</p><p>Center Grove’s next game is Dec. 27 against Evansville North at the Columbus North tournament.</p>