Center Grove, Franklin survive sectional openers

<p><strong>B</strong>oth Center Grove and Franklin faced tougher-than-expected tests in their first-round sectional games on Tuesday night.</p><p>But the sole objective in the postseason is to survive, and the Trojans and Grizzly Cubs both did that.</p><p>Center Grove ground its way to a 32-22 triumph over Greenwood, and Franklin fought through a first-half slump to pull out a 56-49 victory over Martinsville.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The host Trojans (17-8) will face Franklin Central in Friday’s first semifinal, while the Grizzly Cubs (18-7) will take on Whiteland.</p><p>After Franklin scored the first seven points of the nightcap, the Artesians came storming back with a 19-5 surge, eventually taking a 29-21 advantage into halftime. The Grizzly Cubs responded with the first nine points of the third period to get back into it.</p><p>“We got a little soft there in the first half,” Franklin coach Brad Dickey said. “We got off to a good start and then kind of went soft and didn’t follow our game plan. … We regrouped nicely at the half, and we had a terrific start to the third quarter, so credit to our guys for really setting the tone for the second half immediately coming out of the locker room.”</p><p>Blaine Wentzell’s 3-pointer produced the seventh and final lead change of the third quarter, putting Franklin ahead for good at 39-37. Cory Richards scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth to help the Grizzly Cubs hold on.</p><p>Greenwood (9-14) came out taking a very deliberate approach in the opener, holding the ball for more than three minutes on its first possession, but it did not have the desired effect right away — turnovers on three of their first four trips helped put the Woodmen in an 8-0 hole after the opening quarter.</p><p>Gradually, though, their patience paid off. Matthew Allen provided a spark with back-to-back buckets at the start of the second, and Bryce Hoffman got to the basket for three layups, the last of which came with five seconds left in the half and cut the Trojans’ lead to 14-12.</p><p>“When you know you’ve got a team like that with the firepower they have, you don’t want to start that way,” Greenwood coach Joe Bradburn said. “But at the same time, we established the tempo that we wanted. … I was proud of our guys because they stuck to our game plan.”</p><p>Spencer Piercefield and Justin DeGraaf layups stretched Center Grove’s lead to six with 3:21 left in the third period, but the Woodmen stayed within range. After Trayce Jackson-Davis finally scored his first points of the night on an alley-oop from Piercefield with 5:09 to go in the game, T.J. Price hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 24-20 at the 4:05 mark.</p><p>But that was as close as it got down the stretch. Another lob from Piercefield to Jackson-Davis with 2:08 on the clock made it a seven-point game, and Center Grove took care of business at the foul line to close it out.</p><p>Though the pace of the game may have frustrated the Trojans at times — Jackson-Davis was held scoreless for nearly 27 minutes and finished with just four points — they never lost their composure.</p><p>“I feel like we’re really prepared for almost any defense that a team throws at us, just based on what kind of teams we’ve played already,” Center Grove guard Ben Nicoson said. “Stall ball, diamond and two, stuff like that. So I feel like we have the offensive capabilities and the mindset to attack anything that teams throw at us.”</p><p>Price led all scorers with 12 for the Woodmen, including all 10 of his team’s second-half points. Piercefield and Nicoson paced the Trojans with six each.</p><p>Drew Byerly scored 14 points for the Grizzly Cubs.</p>