JEFFERSONVILLE
In 2011, the UConn men’s basketball team finished ninth in the Big East Conference during the regular season — but the Huskies, behind a superhuman hot streak from Kemba Walker, got hot at the right time and ran the table to win a national championship.
It remains to be seen whether Ally Becki and Brownsburg can complete a similar run in Class 4A girls basketball next week, but the similarities to this point have been uncanny.
Becki poured in a game-high 31 points on a dazzling array of inside and outside shots, and the Bulldogs’ defense smothered a normally dynamic Franklin attack to post a convincing 49-27 victory at the Jeffersonville Semistate on Saturday.
The 27 points were a season low for the Grizzly Cubs (22-3), who came in scoring more than 65 points per game.
“Just how close up they were on every player,” freshman guard Lauren Klem said when asked if anything caught the team by surprise. “They faceguarded all of us pretty tight, and I just think we weren’t ready for that.”
The Bulldogs (17-10), who had allowed just 38.9 points a game during the eight-game win streak they brought with them, suffocated the nation’s top 3-point shooting offense. The length, strength and quickness of their guards, junior Miya Webb in particular, made life difficult for Franklin on the perimeter — the Grizzly Cubs, who came in making more than 12 3s per contest, only attempted 11 on Saturday. They made just two, none in the second half.
Meanwhile, Becki was having no trouble getting shots off at the other end. After two turnovers and an air ball in the opening minutes, the likely Indiana All-Star more or less had her way offensively, scoring eight points in each of the first two quarters and never letting up after that.
“Ally Becki is special, man. She’s a special, special player,” Franklin coach Josh Sabol said. “Out of all the players that we have faced this year, she’s the best that we’ve seen, and we’ve played some really good teams this year. She’s fantastic, and she really sparked them tonight.”
About the only thing keeping the Grizzly Cubs close through the first 16 minutes was an increasingly aggressive Kuryn Brunson. Scoreless in the first quarter, the junior was able to create some chances off the dribble and scored all 10 Franklin points in the second.
But Becki opened the second half with a pair of baskets and then assisted on a 3 by Kiera Guckenberger that capped an 11-0 run and stretched the Brownsburg lead to 31-17 at the 4:50 mark of the third period. The Bulldogs continued to extend their advantage in the fourth, with a driving layup by Becki maxing it out at 22 points with 2:25 to go.
The Ball State recruit shot an incredible 12 of 14 from the floor, adding six rebounds and four assists for good measure.
Franklin, meanwhile, made just 10 field goals as a team and was outscored 29-10 after Brunson’s final basket of the first half had cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 20-17.
Brunson finished with 14 points and Klem seven for the Grizzly Cubs.
The end of the postseason run brought mixed emotions for Sabol. On one side of the coin, he says goodbye to five seniors, including three — Kyra Baker, Lauren Sandrock and Megan Thompson — who went through all four years and helped set the tone for those that followed them through the door.
“When they were in eighth grade, we sat around one day and just dreamed about making something out of nothing, and being champions,” Sabol said. “That’s all we talked about. And it starts with them, because they were champions before we won championships. In the classroom, in the community, just the greatest five girls you could ever ask for. … They’ve now put Franklin girls basketball on the map, and we’re going to miss them terribly.”
At the same time, the Grizzly Cubs return four starters — three of them freshmen and the other a potential 2022 Indiana All-Star in Brunson. That core of players, which will be augmented by reinforcements from a one-loss junior varsity squad, is eager to build on the success that Franklin tasted this season.
Saturday’s loss was just another learning experience for a young and talented squad that appears highly likely to be back on this stage before long.
“This year gives us the experience,” Brunson said. “We know what it takes to win games in crunch time, we know what it takes to get back here, and I think for our younger kids and even me, it sets the bar. Now we know where we need to be next year.”
“That’s definitely going to fuel our offseason,” Sabol said, “and we’ll be back.”
