The pace might not have been to Whiteland’s liking, but the result was.
Facing a Franklin club wanting to play a deliberate pace Friday night, the host Warriors remained disciplined, hit free throws late and escaped with a hard-fought 37-31 victory to improve to 6-5 overall and 1-3 in the Mid-State Conference.
The Grizzly Cubs dropped to 4-8 and 0-4.
Whiteland sophomore guard Austin Willoughby, the game’s leading scorer with 12 points, said maintaining a certain level of patience in a contest such as Friday’s isn’t easy.
“Just standing on defense the whole time and waiting and waiting, and just hoping to get the ball, eventually,” said Willoughby, one of four players contributing to his team piecing together an 11-4 scoring run over the final 1:34. “Usually, we’re not going against a team like that that holds the ball most the game.”
Franklin was on top, 27-26, with 1:52 remaining in the fourth after sophomore guard Max Clark converted the second of two free throw attempts. Whiteland countered with Quinten Gillespie’s 3-pointer from the right corner to take the lead for good.
“That was huge,” Willoughby said.
Unable to capitalize offensively, Franklin eventually had to foul. Senior guard Logan Willoughby converted all four of his charities late, while sophomore backup Brady Stanifer and Austin Willoughby made good on two apiece.
The elder Willoughby finished with eight points for the Warriors; junior point guard Drew Higdon grabbed six rebounds. Junior guard Carson Hunter had nine points to lead the Grizzly Cubs, followed by seniors Max Lancer and Damon Dickey with six each.
Both squads shot poorly, Franklin’s 12 of 33 from the floor (36.4%) slightly better than Whiteland’s 10 of 30 (33.3%). The Warriors eked out a 17-16 edge on the boards and had seven turnover to the Cubs’ nine. Lancer tied Higdon for game rebounding honors with six.
“We took their game plan as a compliment,” Whiteland coach Nate Cangany said. “They thought we must’ve been a team that they didn’t want to play with, but all week we kind of guessed this was coming. We preached this week, discipline, discipline, discipline on defense. You have to keep (Franklin) from some back doors and getting those extra points lulling you to sleep and getting a drive or open shot somewhere.
“When you get in a game like that, actually staying disciplined is very difficult. Give Franklin credit. They jumped out to a lead, we missed some bunnies early and weren’t as efficient offensively. Playing that style of game isn’t fun for anybody. It took a lot of discipline from our guys, but ultimately we wanted to win, and we knew winning is fun.”
