After scoring 72 points the previous night, the Franklin girls basketball team could have saved a few of those points for Friday.
At least four of them.
Franklin nearly overcame a one-point second quarter and roared back, however in the end it was a few points short as it lost to visiting Decatur Central, 44-41, in Mid-State Conference action.
While the Grizzly Cubs (3-6, 1-1) seemed to score at will against Beech Grove on Thursday, nothing they threw up against the Hawks seemed to work in the first half.
“I don’t know what it was,” said Franklin coach Josh Sabol. “I don’t think I’ve every seen or heard of a one-point quarter. It killed us. There was a lot of indecisiveness and bad habits.”
Fortunately for the Cubs, they were still in the game as Decatur Central had some scoring issues of its own. Had the Hawks hit their shots, it might have been a blowout early.
Franklin came alive in the second half, outscoring the Hawks 35-24 thanks to six second half 3-pointers, two by junior Hailee Robbins and four from junior Kiki Crabtree.
Crabtree really kept the Cubs in the game, going a perfect 3 for 3 in the fourth quarter and cutting the Hawks once-huge lead to a single point with 25 seconds left to play.
That was, however, it for Franklin.
Decatur Central’s Vanessa Wilson hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left, and Franklin couldn’t get a decent shot off at the buzzer.
Crabtree led all scorers with 16 points. Robbins had 10.
Wilson led the Hawks with 13 points, while Kenadi Brand added 10.
“We’re usually a very good shooting team,” said Sabol. “But you have to credit (Decatur Central). They present problems in the middle, but we have to play better.”
Up next for the Cubs is another home date, this time against Bloomington North, next Thursday.
