For the Daily Journal
The Franklin College women’s basketball team started the new year the same way it ended 2018 — with a victory, 74-63 over Manchester College in a wild and raucous game at the Spurlock Center on Wednesday night.
“Credit to our kids for being resilient,” Franklin coach Dana Haggenjos said. “We were hungry for some wins. Last year we lost twice to Manchester, so it feels good to get this one.”
Overall, it was a pretty sloppy game, with both teams turning the ball over, missed free throws, scrums over loose balls and several wild shots flying throughout the air.
As if that wasn’t enough, there were some confused referee decisions as well — but that’s what made the game so interesting at times, because neither team could really establish a comfortable margin.
Franklin thought it could early in the second quarter, taking a 13-point lead, but the Grizzlies frittered away their lead with the Spartans closing to within six.
“There were some calls that frankly I’m not even sure about the rules now, because it’s something that I thought all along existed that now doesn’t exist,” said Haggenjos of some of the more questionable calls.
Franklin settled down somewhat in the second half, but there was still more of the same shenanigans in the second half, and despite getting a 17-point lead in the third quarter, the Grizzlies couldn’t really put the game away.
Not until there was less than a minute to play and the Grizzlies had a 10-point lead that the game was effectively put in the refrigerator.
Franklin was led by Bayleigh Walker with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures were Mallory Cast and Jessica Nix with 13 apiece and Isabella Ratliff with 12.
“I thought Mallory did a heck of a job on the boards today,” said Haggenjos. “She was all over the place.”
Manchester’s Faith-Alexis Graham led all scorers with 18 points.
Franklin’s first two-game winning streak of the season raised the Grizzlies’ record to 2-3 in the Heartland Conference and 4-8 overall.
“It was a great team win for everybody,” said Haggenjos.
Franklin hosts Mount St. Joseph in another HCAC game on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.
