Life comes at you fast.
Greenwood had started out playing pretty good perimeter defense Tuesday night against a Franklin girls basketball team that had hit 44 3-pointers in its first three games this season. But midway through the second quarter, the deep balls started to drop in.
Lauren Klem. <em>Good.</em>
Kyra Baker. <em>Good.</em>
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]
Click here to purchase photos from this galleryBaker again. <em>Good.</em>
Kuryn Brunson. <em>Good.</em>
Scarlett Kimbrell. <em>Good.</em>
Five straight 3s punctuated a 24-0 second-quarter run that helped the Grizzly Cubs break open what turned into a 75-25 rout of visiting Greenwood in the opening round of the Johnson County tournament.
Brunson had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead Franklin (4-0), which will face tournament host Whiteland in Thursday’s second semifinal game. Kimbrell (17 points), Baker (16) and Klem (12) joined her in double figures as the Grizzly Cubs finished the night 17 of 34 from long distance.
Despite the big offensive numbers from those four, Franklin coach Josh Sabol credited less heralded seniors Megan Thompson and Natosha Root for coming off the bench and setting the stage for that game-changing stretch.
"When Natosha Root and Meg Thompson checked in at the end of that first quarter, they gave us that energy, and all of a sudden it felt like an avalanche at that point," Sabol said. "I think those two, their energy, is what really kind of got us over that little shooting slump to start, and after that we were comfortable and just played."
Franklin indeed started out cold from the perimeter as Greenwood made it a point to stretch its defense and limit the open looks from deep. They made just two of their first 11 shots from behind the arc, and as a result the Woodmen stayed close; the visitors were still within shouting distance at 12-7 a minute into the second quarter.
But the rest of the half was a nightmare for Greenwood, which helped pour gasoline on the fire by committing 14 turnovers before the break.
Franklin didn’t really need the help.
Brunson kicked the decisive run into high gear with a three-point play at the 4:25 mark of the second, and after the junior scored on another drive to the basket, Klem knocked down the first of those five consecutive 3s. Within moments, a once-competitive game was a 36-7 bloodbath.
"We don’t get in our head," Brunson said. "When things get tough, we just know, (Sabol) always tells us that water will find its level, so if our shots aren’t falling, just keep shooting, doing what we do."
Franklin kept its foot on the gas in the third quarter, with Kimbrell hitting three more treys during a 19-0 surge that made it 63-13 with a minute remaining in the period.
The Woodmen (1-4) struggled to get much offense going, especially with Franklin working to take away top scorer and rebounder Quinn Kelly. The junior, plagued by foul trouble in the first half, didn’t score all night.
Meanwhile, the Grizzly Cubs couldn’t seem to stop scoring.
"Hats off to Franklin," Greenwood coach Justin Bennett said. "Franklin’s a good team. Coach Sabol’s done a really good job with them. Those two phenomenal freshmen (Kimbrell and Klem), and then Kuryn, Kyra Baker. That’s a pretty good team. They shot lights out again tonight, they move the ball well. It’s a really good team.
"We started out with our game plan, and I thought we did pretty decent. Getting back in transition was a thing that we worried about, and I thought we did okay in the first few minutes, but … that’s a tough team to guard because they don’t mind sharing the basketball."
Ella Stivers and Brooklyn Bell led the Woodmen with seven and six points, respectively.
Franklin now sets its sights on Whiteland. The end goal this week is the school’s first county title, but the Grizzly Cubs are taking that quest one step at a time.
"The thing I love about this group, what I love about these seniors, is that they’re really, really locked in," Sabol said. "The biggest thing they’re thinking about right now is having a great practice tomorrow and then getting ready for Thursday. That’s it."
