Artesians down Cubs to claim Mid-State title

<p>Any chance Franklin had preventing Martinsville from finishing undefeated against Mid-State Conference opponents was greatly lessened during the last 4:19 of the second quarter.</p><p>The Artesians closed the first half with an 18-1 scoring run on Tuesday on their way to a 67-59 victory and an outright league title.</p><p>Now 16-6 overall, Martinsville finished 7-0 in league play under first-year coach Jessie Johnson. Franklin fell to 10-11 overall and completed its Mid-State slate with a 4-3 mark.</p><p>The Grizzly Cubs led, 27-20, when the visitors took control.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>“Three of our leading scorers and best ball handlers, Kuryn (Brunson), Kiki (Crabtree) and Bayleigh (Torrance) are on the bench with two fouls each. That takes away some of our offense, takes away some of our ball handling, and our decision-making was terrible,” Franklin coach Josh Sabol said.</p><p>“I feel we had, like, nine turnovers in that final three-minute stretch. Like literally throwing it to the other team. That can’t happen.”</p><p>Adding insult to injury late in the second was Martinsville backup guard Delaney Wolfe banking in a desperation trey at the buzzer for a 38-28 advantage.</p><p>Franklin, however, closed to within 46-41 after a pair of Torrance free throws at 2:41 of the third. The Artesians answered with a layup by senior guard Bethany Mackin and a Wolfe jumper.</p><p>The Grizzly Cubs again pulled as close as five in the final quarter. A Hailee Robbins 3-pointer from the baseline completed a stretch where the junior tallied 10 straight points for her team and made it 60-55 with 2:29 remaining.</p><p>Martinsville responded once more, this time on a basket from Mackin and a three-point sequence from sophomore wing Pa’Shence Walker, who led all scorers with 24 points. Franklin whittled the 10-point spread to six inside a minute to go, but Sabol called timeout when the Cubs had none remaining, resulting in a technical foul.</p><p>Mackin scored 16 points for Martinsville, with Wolfe adding 11. Robbins led Franklin with 17 points, followed by Crabtree’s 14 and Torrance’s 13.</p><p>Torrance, the team’s lone senior, was honored before the game. She also finished with three rebounds before fouling out at 5:24 of the fourth quarter.</p><p>Franklin led most the first quarter and a half, opening with a 7-1 lead before Johnson signaled timeout. Led by Crabtree’s play early in the second stanza, the Grizzly Cubs bolted to a seven-point advantage before the Artesians, paced by Walker scoring nine of her 15 first-half points, dominated the rest of the half.</p><p>The Cubs committed 10 first-half turnovers, including six in the second quarter.</p><p>“(Martinsville) only gives up about 33 points a game, and we about doubled that tonight,” Sabol said. “Our offense is fine. It really is about discipline. It’s about not fouling, making your free throws, not turning the ball over. It has nothing to do with anything else except for us.”</p>