All season long, defense has been the calling card of the Center Grove girls basketball team.
The Trojans’ performance on that end might have been their best to date.
Center Grove held host Whiteland without a point for almost nine minutes and without a field goal for nearly twice that long, smothering the Warriors throughout on the way to a 46-23 triumph in Class 4A sectional semifinal action.
"That was the first thing I told them — ‘You guys got it done defensively tonight,’ and that was obviously difference," said Center Grove coach Kevin Stuckmeyer, who was still somewhat shocked to hear that his team allowed just four made field goals all night.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
In the first semifinal of the evening, Kuryn Brunson scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to help Franklin rally past Greenwood, 50-43.
The Grizzly Cubs and Trojans will face off for the championship at 7:30 tonight.
Center Grove (21-3) used 3-pointers from Emma Utterback and Ella Thompson to jump out to an 8-0 lead over the first 5:45. Whiteland was able to stay within striking distance, getting it to 16-10 on a pair of Natalie Stuck free throws with 4:05 remaining in the half, but the Trojans held them without a point for the next 8 minutes and 57 seconds of play, scoring 16 unanswered points in that span to put the game away.
Mary Wilson ended the first half with a 3-pointer and Ashley Eck started the second half with another, and a reverse layup by Utterback with 4:26 to go in the third quarter capped the long run and made it 32-10. Center Grove led by at least 20 from there.
The Warriors, who got all but eight of their points from the foul line, finished the night with 20 turnovers.
"Coming into this game we knew that Whiteland really wanted to beat us," Utterback said, "so we had to lock down on defense, because they have really good shooters and really good girls on the inside."
Wilson led Center Grove with 16 points off the bench, while Utterback chipped in with 10.
Franklin (12-12) had a much more difficult time getting past a feisty young Greenwood squad, but it was able to survive thanks to a dominating fourth-quarter effort.
"Our scouting report and the game preparation was not very good on our part for the first three quarters," Franklin coach Josh Sabol said. "Once we made the adjustments and we started pressing and pushing the pace, that’s when we’re at our best. We should have been doing that from the beginning."
Up 20-19 after a back-and-forth first half that featured eight lead changes, Greenwood stretched its advantage to 29-23 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Ashley Buster and led by seven going into the fourth. But the Grizzly Cubs started picking up the tempo and getting to the rim, and the payoff was a run of 10 straight points that got them back on top, 39-36, with 4:24 left.
The Woodmen got back within one on an Anna Pritchett layup with 3:13 remaining, but a Brunson free throw and a Megan Thompson 3 stretched the Franklin lead back to 43-38, and the Grizzly Cubs were able to hit enough free throws to preserve the upper hand.
Franklin made 14 of 18 from the line in the fourth quarter, with Brunson hitting 10 of her 12 and Hailee Robbins knocking down all four of hers.
"We play our best when we’re speeding up the game and getting up and down the floor," Brunson said. "So we went to our 1-2-2 (defense) and started getting steals and deflections and getting down the court faster."
Robbins finished with 14 points for the Grizzly Cubs. Buster paced the Woodmen with 14 points, with Sarah DeCastro adding 13.
Center Grove defeated Franklin, 45-23, back on Nov. 27. Friday marked the sixth time that it held an opponent to 25 points or fewer this season.
"If we defend like that," Stuckmeyer said after the semifinal win, "and we’re composed with the ball like that, I’ll take our chances in any game."
