Franklin’s Micah Davis celebrates a late 3-pointer during Friday’s county semifinal against Greenwood.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
Escaped. Held on. Sweated it out.
Regardless of how one summarizes Franklin’s 30-29 victory over Greenwood on Friday, the Grizzly Cubs assured themselves a place in tonight’s Johnson County tournament championship at Whiteland.
“I would like for it to not be that close, but honestly, this year we haven’t played a lot of close games,” said Franklin coach Adrian Moss, whose squad will face Class 4A No. 5 Center Grove in the 7 p.m. final. “It’s been where either we’re blowing a team out or we’ve gotten blown out.
“As a basketball coach, I appreciate the tight game and us learning from that experience. I think we need that, not that it was designed that way.”
Franklin seemed in control of the night’s opening semifinal, building an 11-point lead after three quarters.
But Carter Campbell’s hoop in close 13 seconds into the final stanza, seemed to light the fuse to Greenwood’s comeback.
Gradually, the competition intensified, with Franklin’s lead shrinking from 11 points to eight to three — and eventually one.
A runner off the glass from junior guard Jake Mosemann with 19.5 ticks showing cut it to 30-29 with the Woodmen needing to foul quickly in order to put the Cubs in the bonus in an attempt to get the ball back.
Greenwood accomplished this at 8.5 seconds, sending guard Wyatt Nickleson to the stripe. The junior’s charity was in and out, and Franklin guard Nate Corley was whistled for a foul during the scramble for the rebound.
Another Corley foul with 2.1 seconds left set the Woodmen up for an inbounds play and potential game-winning shot.
From midcourt, Jakeb Hornbeak looped a pass to the 6-foot-6 Campbell along the left baseline, but his 10-footer was strong off the rim at the buzzer.
Franklin senior forward Dylan Beverly led all scorers with 13 points and tied Woodmen senior Jabar Elemikan for game rebounding honors with seven. Junior guard Micah Davis added 11 points for the Cubs (6-6).
Campbell led Greenwood (5-8) with 12 points and six boards, while Mosemann added 11 points.
“It just seemed like (Greenwood) played a lot harder than they were earlier in the game. Like they wanted it a lot more,” said the 6-6 Beverly, who was 6 of 7 from the floor. “But I think these games make us tougher and make us better as a team.”
Center Grove dominated the nightcap, scoring a 73-50 win over Whiteland behind the 25 points of senior guard Marcus Ankney.
The Trojans (13-1) never trailed, jumping to a 20-9 advantage through one quarter and 32-16 at halftime. Senior guard Ethan McComb delivered a 14-point performance in the win, while junior guard Joey Schmitz added 10.
Ankney and McComb teamed to knock down nine 3-pointers, but it was the Trojans’ defense, which limited the Warriors (6-10) to 18-of-45 field goal misery, that got the attention of coach Zach Hahn.
“I think the biggest thing that pleases me with some of these guys is that a lot of them have always had a scorer’s mentality,” Hahn said. “But we lost some good defenders, and these guys have kind of taken ownership on, ‘If I want to be a college basketball player, I’ve got to do both.’
“Marcus has really stepped up and done a good job on the opposing team’s best player. Jalen (Bundy) has done it from time to time. They’re doing a good job of keeping guys in front, just making them take tough shots. The scoring is great, but I like that they’re hanging their hat on defense, and doing both this year.”
Junior Wiatt McLaughlin had 12 points and seven rebounds to lead the Warriors. Senior Austin Willoughby finished with nine points, as did sophomore reserve Ethan Edwards.
