Trojans hold off Franklin to win sectional crown

<p><strong>C</strong>enter Grove senior Emma Utterback had missed four of her five third-quarter free throws Saturday night before she was fouled shooting a 3-pointer at the end of the period.</p><p>Letting those previous misses get into her head at that moment wasn’t an option. Not with Franklin still nipping at the Trojans’ heels in a Class 4A sectional final that had been more closely contested than many had anticipated.</p><p>Utterback sank all three shots, helping get Center Grove some much-needed momentum on the way to a 45-36 triumph over the Grizzly Cubs at Whiteland.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The Trojans (22-3) move on to the Bedford North Lawrence Regional, where they will face the winner of tonight’s game between the host Stars and Jennings County.</p><p>“When I was on the line for those three free throws, I had to completely flush those past free throws away,” said Utterback, who finished with a game-high 23 points. “I think that really kind of pushed for that huge run that we ended up having in the beginning of the fourth quarter.”</p><p>Many onlookers around the state had already penciled Center Grove into that regional draw before Saturday’s final, but Franklin wasn’t willing to give in so easily.</p><p>The Grizzly Cubs led 13-11 when Kuryn Brunson beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer, and they had the advantage three other times, the last coming when a Kyra Baker free throw made it 26-25 with 3:32 left in the third. But Utterback and Ella Thompson countered with back-to-back 3-pointers, putting the Trojans up for good.</p><p>Hailee Robbins, who led Franklin with 19 points, scored a basket to cut the deficit to 31-28, and she came up with a steal in the closing seconds of the quarter that might have made it even closer going into the fourth. But Robbins couldn’t quite come up with control of the ball, turning the ball back over to Center Grove with 0.7 seconds on the clock.</p><p>Utterback was then fouled and converted all of her free throws. After Mary Wilson opened the final period by converting a feed inside from Thompson, Utterback knocked down her third 3-pointer of the night to stretch the Trojan lead to 39-28.</p><p>Franklin (12-13) got no closer than six in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Thompson and Wilson each finished with eight points for the Trojans, who don’t figure to be taking any game for granted in Bedford after facing such a stern challenge from the Grizzly Cubs on Saturday.</p><p>“It’s definitely good for us to make sure we never let our guard down,” Thompson said, “and to make sure we’re always ready, because anyone can beat anyone in the state tournament. It just takes one game, so we’ve got to always come out and play our ‘A’ game.”</p>