Franklin girls basketball survives first-round test

SHELBYVILLE

When the Columbus North and Franklin girls met over Thanksgiving weekend, the Grizzly Cubs dominated to the tune of a 65-28 victory.

Tuesday’s rematch was far more dramatic. It wasn’t decided until the final three seconds when Lauren Klem rebounded a missed 3-pointer to allow Franklin to escape with a 48-45 victory in the opening round of the Class 4A Shelbyville Sectional.

“Early in the season, we were able to make some shots early in the game and were able to gap them, and things just kind of snowballed from there,” Franklin coach Mike Armstrong said. “I never once thought it was going to be anything like the first game. Tournament games are usually more half-court, and I thought they did a better job of getting out and guarding us on the perimeter and taking things away. I thought they also did a good job of mixing in zone and man and making us change what we were doing. We just didn’t shoot the ball very well from the perimeter or free throw line, and they were making enough plays to stay in the game.”

The Grizzly Cubs (16-5) advance to play Whiteland in Friday’s first semifinal.

The Bull Dogs (14-9) came out in a zone to start Tuesday’s matchup and caused Franklin a little trouble; as a result, they trailed only 15-13 after one quarter. The second period featured nine lead changes and ended with Columbus North holding a slim 25-24 lead following a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Hadassah Hurt.

North took its biggest lead at 31-26 with 5:15 left in the third quarter, but shortly after, leading rebounder Kathryn Wilson picked up her fourth foul and headed to the bench. Still, the Bull Dogs were within two after three quarters, 40-38.

“We started out in a zone just go give them a different look,” North coach Brett White said. “We hadn’t seen many teams that had tried that, and I thought it got them a little bit on their heels. We tried to mix in man, zone, just to make them guess, and I thought we did a pretty good job of contesting. What we didn’t do a good job of at times was getting those rebounds, and then they got some stuff in transition in the second half that got them some easy buckets.”

The Grizzly Cubs turned up the defense in the fourth quarter and held North without a basket until Hurt hit a 3-pointer with 53 seconds remaining to cut Franklin’s lead to 46-43. After a turnover, Hurt converted a one-and-one to make it a one-point game.

Another turnover gave the ball back to the Bull Dogs, but North was then called for a five-second violation. The Bull Dogs fouled Brooklyn York with 13 seconds left, and she missed the front end of a one-and-one, but got her own rebound and got it to Scarlett Kimbrell, who was fouled and made two free throws with 9.5 seconds left.

“They were big,” Kimbrell said. “It was really stressful, but I just knew that someone had to step up and make them.”

North then got the ball to Hurt, who missed a 22-footer with 3 seconds left, and Franklin was able to run out the clock after Klem grabbed the rebound.

“I thought we really toughened up in the last minute of the game defensively,” Armstrong said.

Kimbrell led the Grizzly Cubs with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kyndell Jochim scored 11 points, Erica Buening had nine points and eight rebounds and York added nine points.

“This is the kind of game I thought it was going to be,” Armstrong said. “You knew they were going to be well prepared. I really don’t want this to sound like an excuse, but we really hadn’t played in 10 days. We had Martinsville last week, and they’re not very strong, and then our game against Jennings County was canceled. and I really wanted that game to prepare for this game. We just didn’t shoot it well, and I don’t know if that’s because we hadn’t been in a game like that. Columbus had a lot to do with that.”