Whiteland’s Austin Willoughby drives pass a Franklin defender during Friday’s sectional semifinal at Greenwood.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
Even while his team was dropping 14 of its first 20 games, Franklin boys basketball coach Adrian Moss didn’t hit the panic button. The growth process takes time, he reasoned, and it’s a long season.
The Grizzly Cubs are picking the right time to grow up.
Sophomore guard Micah Davis scored 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter, spearheading a key late-period run that helped fuel Franklin to a 50-45 triumph over rival Whiteland in the semifinal round of the Class 4A Greenwood Sectional on Friday evening.
The Grizzly Cubs (10-14), winners of four straight, will play in tonight’s championship game against Center Grove, which squandered a 14-point lead in the second half but recovered in crunch time to edge Franklin Central in the second semifinal, 60-52.
“We’re just playing together as a team,” Davis said after Franklin’s victory. “We talk to each other, we’re like brothers, and we just go out and play hard defense and make the right plays.”
And at the right time.
Down 29-23 with 2:30 to go in the third, Franklin regained the lead for keeps with a 10-1 surge that was capped by a Carson Hunter 3-pointer and an and-one putback by Micah Davis. A top-of-the-key 3 from Sam Auger with 3:56 remaining in the game gave the Grizzly Cubs a 40-34 advantage, and a Davis drive and a handful of free throws helped keep the Warriors at arm’s length for the next three-plus minutes.
A three-point play by Wiatt McLaughlin with 45.2 seconds left got Whiteland back to within a possession at 47-44, but the Grizzly Cubs came up with a pair of defensive stops and three more foul shots to hang on.
“I wouldn’t say that was our best ball,” Moss said, “but the difference is toughness. The experience that we had before, we learned from that, and then we won some games and got some confidence. Not only did we learn from our losses, but I think we have some confidence now that we can pull through and win.”
Franklin got out to an early 6-0 lead against the Warriors but couldn’t pull away, thanks largely to the spark provided by McLaughlin off of the Whiteland bench. The sophomore scored all seven of his team’s points in the opening quarter, including a corner 3-pointer in the closing seconds that cut the deficit to one.
Such makes were few and far between for both teams during a first half that saw the Grizzly Cubs make just 5 of 23 shots from the floor and the Warriors hit just 4 of 19. Despite the cold shooting, Franklin managed to maintain the upper hand throughout, converting a couple of turnovers in the later stages of the second quarter to take a 16-10 edge into the locker room.
Whiteland (14-10) shook off its shooting woes in the third period, scoring the first nine points to take its first lead of the night. Kyson Jones started the run with a corner 3 and capped it by feeding Max Sullivan for another that made it 19-16 with five minutes on the clock. Another deep ball from Jones grew the Warriors’ lead to six before the Grizzly Cubs responded with the aforementioned Davis-led run to go back in front to stay.
“I call it MD mode,” Moss said. “He goes in superhuman mode. … When he’s locked in, I wouldn’t take any guard over him in the state.”
Auger finished with a dozen points for Franklin, while Wyatt Nickleson added nine and Hunter had seven. McLaughlin led all scorers with 21 in defeat, while Sullivan and Jones chipped in seven and six, respectively.
In the nightcap, Center Grove (11-12) grabbed an early 10-4 lead before going cold midway through the first half. A 6:04 scoreless drought allowed the Flashes to score nine straight and pull ahead, 20-14, before the Trojans answered with a 7-0 burst of their own to go back in front on a steal and bucket by Marcus Ankney with 2:53 left in the half. Center Grove led at the midway point, 28-27.
The Trojans (11-12) then started the third period with seven straight points, opening up a 35-27 lead on a Joey Schmitz 3-pointer. Back-to-back 3s from Schmitz and Ethan McComb later in the quarter, followed by a Jordan Vaughns basket down low, expanded that advantage to a seemingly comfortable 46-32 with 1:07 remaining in the quarter. Franklin Central, though, outscored Center Grove 16-2 over the next three and a half minutes, eventually tying the game at 48-48 when Lyna Brooks capped a personal 10-0 run with a steal and dunk at the 5:37 mark of the fourth.
“Every game with Franklin Central is always going to be knock-down, drag out,” Center Grove coach Zach Hahn said, “and when you’ve got as much offensive firepower as they do, there’s no lead that’s safe.”
A Dhani Flannigan 3 pulled the Flashes even one last time, 52-52, with 2:30 remaining, but the Trojans controlled the remainder of the contest. Vaughns scored the go-ahead bucket with 2:07 to go, and a steal by Ankney in the final minute, followed by four free throws from Jalen Bundy and two from McComb, iced it.
Ankney scored 14 points to pace Center Grove, while Vaughns and Schmitz wound up with 13 apiece. McComb and Shane Bennett each contributed eight points.
Hahn cited the shooting of reserves Schmitz and McComb, as well as the second-half defense of Ajay Holubar, as critical.
“Our bench really came in and gave us the lift that we needed tonight,” the coach said.
