Greg Jones | For the Daily Journal
BEDFORD
If two Johnson County teams are going to drive this far south, they might as well play additional minutes.
Center Grove and defending Class 4A state runner-up Franklin did on Saturday, with the ninth-ranked Trojans squeaking out a 45-43 regional victory in overtime at Bedford North Lawrence.
The Trojans (22-4) will face No. 7 BNL in the semifinal round of the Southport Semistate this Saturday morning. Lawrence North and Ben Davis will meet in the other semi.
Center Grove, winners of 18 consecutive games since losing at Franklin in late November, earned the program’s fifth semistate berth, the last coming in 2007. The Grizzly Cubs, semistate qualifiers each of the previous two seasons, finish with an 18-6 record.
“They’ve been here. Franklin knows how to do it. We’ve had several games that have ended in similar fashion, and they’ve come out on top. They obviously had the edge in that department,” Trojans coach Kevin Stuckmeyer said after watching his team snap a six-game losing skid to the Cubs.
“But we talked all week how it was going to come down to those few key possessions. (Franklin) made a few to get back in it, and then we were just fortunate enough to make a few down the stretch.”
Leading early in the fourth quarter, 37-29, Center Grove had to weather a Grizzly Cubs run.
Senior guard Kyndell Jochim got things started with a pair of free throws, followed by her 3-pointer and junior center Erica Buening’s old-fashioned three-point sequence that tied it at 37-37 with 1:49 to go.
Trojans junior guard Aubrie Booker put her squad back on top 12 seconds later, knocking down both ends of a one-and-one free throw situation. Buening’s rebound hoop provided the points needed to ensure an extra session, though the Trojans did have two quality looks at it in right before the buzzer.
Buening’s chippy inside at 2:30 of OT gave Franklin its first lead, 41-39, since midway through the second quarter. Booker again converted two more charities to tie it before Center Grove junior wing Audrey Annee delivered a triple from the right wing with 58.7 seconds remaining.
Grizzly Cubs forward Brooklyn York answered at the other end to pull her team within 44-43; Trojans senior guard Ella Hobson made the second of two free throws at 25.3 for the final point of the game.
Franklin had one final possession as Scarlett Kimbrell dribbled in an attempt to find the right opportunity to shoot the basketball against the stingy Center Grove defense. The junior finally made her way to the baseline, where her jump shot glanced off the side of the backboard.
“It came down to our defense at the end, and we got one big stop that forced them to take a tough shot,” Stuckmeyer said. “And that was the difference.”
Annee and junior post Rachel Wirts scored 11 points each to lead the Trojans, with Wirts just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Lilly Bischoff came off the bench to contribute nine points, while Booker added eight.
Buening finished with 16 points and six boards to lead the Grizzly Cubs in both categories. Jochim, the lone senior on the Franklin roster, had 10 points.
The last seven games played between Center Grove and Franklin have been decided by a total of 29 points — or an average difference of 4.1 points.
“Definitely, they had more (postseason) experience than us, but we’re hungry and we’re ready to win it,” Booker said. “We just wanted this regional title pretty bad. It feels amazing. This group has been through so much, and have overcome so much as a team.
“We’re just ready to win semistate and go as far as we can.”
First-year Franklin coach Mike Armstrong, whose club trailed most of the contest, figured another close game with the Trojans was in store.
This time, it’s Center Grove moving on.
“That’s what I shared with them after the game, that we fought back into it. We had to make up the difference, and we did that,” Armstrong said. “We made some big plays down the stretch. We eventually get the lead for a little bit in the overtime period.
“These games with them these past three years, they’ve all been like this. This time it just didn’t work out for us.”
