According to Franklin coach Josh Sabol, the Class 4A No. 2 Grizzly Cubs haven’t yet hit their stride.
Not even close.
And that’s bad news for their remaining opponents.
Whatever gear that Franklin was playing in was more than enough against Greenwood as the Cubs cruised to an 82-41 win over the host Woodmen to run their record to a lucky 13-0 and inch a step closer to the coveted Mid-State Conference title at 4-0.
Greenwood, which has won more games already this season than last, dropped to 4-8 and 1-3 in the Mid-State.
Asked if the Cubs played at a high level, Sabol was quick to respond.
“I don’t think so. I think defensively we get a little lackadaisical,” Sabol said. We don’t play hard or long enough on the defensive side, but suddenly in the third quarter we flipped that switch, but we have to play like that all the time, and that’s the biggest takeaway that I had.”
Franklin never trailed as they operated their fast-paced offense allowing for easy breakaways, but they also stayed true to their outside game with 37 attempts from beyond the arc, hitting 15 and really making the margin of victory the only guessing point.
At first, though, Greenwood was not intimidated.
Playing an aggressive defense that at times featured a double-team on whichever Grizzly Cub had the ball, the Woodmen threw Franklin off a bit, but couldn’t entirely disrupt the Cubs’ plans.
“We came out with a game plan, and I thought we executed it in the first and second quarters,” Greenwood coach Justin Bennett said. “What we wanted to do was establish ourselves defensively, too. I felt like we competed.”
It worked as the Woodmen were only down by an encouraging eight points, 21-13, after one.
That’s when Franklin turned up the volume, scoring 26 second-quarter points and expanding the lead to 20, 47-27.
Senior Kuryn Brunson scored 12 of her game-high 26 points in the period.
Franklin kept it up the rest of the night, limiting the Woodmen to 14 second-half points.
It was that defense that allowed the Cubs to create 23 Greenwood turnovers, 11 in the first quarter alone.
Franklin toned down the offense once the game seemed secure, but still took the 3-point shot, just not as much.
“That’s what we do,” Sabol said. “I’ve never seen a team shoot as much as we do, before, during and after practice.”
In addition to her 26 points, Brunson hauled in five rebounds. Fellow senior Ashlyn Traylor added 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Scarlett Kimbrell added 12 points on a perfect 4 for 4 from the 3-point line.
Greenwood was led by junior forward Ella Stivers with 13 points.
If Franklin had any problems, it was fouls; the Cubs had seven in the first quarter.
That didn’t worry Sabol so much, as he admitted his team is aggressive and that’s something he doesn’t want to change anytime soon.
“I think we could play better defense without fouling,” Sabol said. “At the same time, we’re walking that fine line because you don’t want them to not be aggressive.”
Both teams have a quick turnaround. Franklin hosts Shelbyville this afternoon, while the Woodmen travel north to Noblesville to face Guerin Catholic. Both games tip off at 2:30 p.m.
