Even with its offensive reputation, Franklin’s girls basketball team still needs to prove it can win some games with defense now and then.
Friday night was one of those times.
Ranked third in Class 4A, the Grizzly Cubs dominated visiting Mooresville, 62-37, in a battle of Mid-State Conference co-leaders. Franklin is now 18-1 overall and 5-0 against league opponents, while the Pioneers drop to 10-8 and 4-1.
Senior guard Kuryn Brunson led all scorers with 25 points for the Cubs. Senior forward Ashlyn Traylor battled foul trouble all evening, yet still wound up with 14 points, and junior guard Adelyn Walker chipped in 11 off the bench.
Mooresville turned the ball over 20 times and made just 13 of 44 field goal attempts (29.5%).
“We were really prepared for this game,” Franklin coach Josh Sabol said. “I thought the girls followed the game plan very, very well, and executed great, especially on the defensive end. I’m very, very pleased with our effort on the defensive side of the ball.
“The fourth quarter it got away from us a little bit, but the first three quarters was really good.”
Franklin led the entire game, jumping to a 17-4 advantage after one and scoring the final 10 points of the second quarter to lead at halftime, 29-12. Brunson tallied 10 of her points in the opening stanza, including a pair of 3-pointers in the final 45.6 seconds.
Mooresville’s 8-0 scoring run early in the second made it look as though things might become interesting.
However, free throws courtesy of Brooklyn York, Walker and Brunson set the table for half-closing triples by Scarlett Kimbrell and Walker.
Franklin led early in the third, 31-16, before taking off on another run to stretch the margin to 24 points (42-18). Traylor produced six points during that sequence. The Grizzly Cubs’ largest advantage was 30 points (54-24) after Traylor came through with an old-fashioned three-point play midway through the final quarter.
Brunson, whose smooth style of play doesn’t always conjure immediate images of high point totals, knocked down five of her team’s eight 3-pointers.
“Kuryn has always been consistent. She had a big game against Reynoldsburg (Ohio), she had a big game against Hamilton Southeastern and a big game against Zionsville,” Sabol said. “She’s really been outstanding her whole career.”
Prior to the game, both Brunson and Traylor were awarded ceremonial basketballs honoring the fact both recently exceeded 1,000 points for their careers.
But this time around, defense helped share the spotlight.
“I really felt on the defensive side of the ball, we really set the tone,” Sabol said. “Offensively, it was hard to get into a rhythm because there were a lot of fouls. It really wasn’t a free-flowing game like the way we like to play.
“The pace was really not to our liking.”
Sophomore Erica Buening led the Grizzly Cubs in rebounding with seven, followed by five each from York and point guard Lauren Klem.
Franklin doesn’t play again until Jan. 17, when it travels to Roncalli.
