Franklin’s girls basketball team lost to Center Grove on Tuesday night for the second time in four days.
The Grizzly Cubs felt a little better than they did after the first one — but so did the Trojans.
Center Grove, ranked 18th in the state coaches’ poll, had to work considerably harder in the rematch, but the Trojans still were able to emerge with a 58-50 triumph on the road.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“I’m proud of us because we pulled it out, even though it wasn’t easy,” Center Grove senior Madelyn Bitterling said.
When the two clubs squared off for the county title last Saturday in Edinburgh, Center Grove buried the Grizzly Cubs with a 16-0 run in the first quarter and led by double digits almost the entire night. This one wasn’t put away nearly as quickly.
Down six early in the second quarter, Franklin (3-4) got a three-point play from Delanie Hill and a bucket by Maya Elliott to tie it at 21-21 with 1:18 left in the half. The Trojans pulled back in front on an Allison Utterback free throw, and Amy Davis’ 3-pointer just before the buzzer put the visitors up by four heading into the break. The Grizzly Cubs, though, were still right there.
”We changed some things on defense, which helped us stop them from getting on fire in the first quarter like they did last game,” Hill said.
Center Grove (6-1) doubled its lead in the third quarter, getting consecutive baskets from Bitterling, Ella Thompson and Emma LeMasters to take a 33-24 with four and a half minutes remaining in the period.
Hill hit her fourth 3-pointer of the night to open the final quarter, bringing Franklin to within five at 43-38. But Center Grove answered with a 7-0 burst, taking a double-digit lead for the first time on another Davis 3 and going up 12, 50-38, on an Emma Utterback bucket.
The Grizzly Cubs had cut that deficit in half by the 2:58 mark on 3-pointers by Hill and Cami Cochrane, but they got no closer down the stretch.
Hill led all scorers with 20 points for Franklin, while Cochrane and Hailee Robbins chipped in with nine and eight, respectively. Bitterling and Cassidy Hardin scored 13 and 10 points to lead a balanced Center Grove offense. The Trojans also got at least five points from five other players.
”We played a lot better as a team this game,” Bitterling said. “They were just on fire — they shot like 45 percent from 3. So our coach (Shawn Sanders) actually wasn’t mad at us for our defense.
”Hopefully they won’t shoot like that again.”
