Franklin girls basketball rolls to sectional crown

SHELBYVILLE

In its sectional semifinal victory over Columbus East on Friday night, Shelbyville scored 30 points in the first half.

Over four quarters in Saturday’s championship game, the host Golden Bears never reached that number.

Franklin scored the first 19 points of the game and was able to cruise from there, claiming its third straight Class 4A sectional title with a 48-29 victory.

“I really felt our defensive effort the last two nights has really been outstanding and closer to what we really want to be,” Grizzly Cubs coach Mike Armstrong said. “(Kylee) Edwards and (Ava) Wilson are really good players and good scorers, and we were just trying to make it as difficult on them as we could — and we were able to do that.”

Wilson finished with a game-high 13 points for Shelbyville (15-9), but most of those came well after the game had been decided; her layup just before the first-quarter horn snapped a drought that nearly lasted the first eight minutes and effectively decided the game.

After drowning Whiteland in 3-point shots early in Friday’s semifinal, the Grizzly Cubs (18-5) opened the final by getting easy baskets in transition, many of them off of the Golden Bears’ eight first-quarter turnovers. Putbacks by Erica Buening and Scarlett Kimbrell opened the scoring, and layups from Brooklyn York and Lauren Klem late in the opening period stretched the lead to 19-0 before Wilson finally got Shelbyville on the board.

“Our thing is, if we really focus on defense whether or not our shots are falling, we have a little bit of leeway,” Buening said.

“I think our defense has honestly been our saving grace so far,” senior Kyndell Jochim added.

Franklin’s offense hit a wall in the second quarter, going the final 7:20 without a made field goal. That allowed Shelbyville to cut a 24-2 deficit to 25-12 early in the third. Consecutive 3-pointers from Jochim, York and Kimbrell over the next two minutes, however, put the Grizzly Cubs firmly in command once again, and the Golden Bears simply couldn’t score enough to come back.

The home team made just eight shots from the field all night.

Buening scored 12 points for Franklin, with Jochim adding nine and York eight.

The team’s inconsistency on offense might be a cause for some concern going forward, but Buening believes that it’ll be there when needed.

”We’ve been a little bit off and on on our shots,” she said, “but I definitely have faith in our team making the big shots when they count.”

Every shot will likely count during next weekend’s regional showdown with Center Grove, a team that hasn’t lost since the Grizzly Cubs held it off in late November, 38-34. The Trojans have made defense their calling card during their 17-game winning streak; even without counting a 66-2 win over lowly Martinsville, they’re allowing just 30.9 points per game since that last setback.

While Center Grove might be the state’s hottest team, Franklin’s players go in armed with the confidence that comes from having won the last five head-to-head matchups.

“We just have to be able to hit shots,” Jochim said. “Our defense should be good enough to get them, and their defense is pretty good, so as long as we can get the ball in the basket, I think we’ll be fine.”

“I expect them to bring it, but I expect us to be ready to play and take care of business,” Buening agreed.