When the Franklin girls basketball team hosted Class 3A No. 8 Beech Grove on Thursday night, the Cubs hoped to keep things competitive.
With four seconds left to play, Franklin found itself with a chance to win the game.
Beech Grove led most of the game, but strong second and fourth quarters gave the Grizzly Cubs a chance at the end of the game that fell just short, allowing the Hornets to escape with a 70-69 win.
“These girls are competitors,” said Franklin coach Josh Sabol after the game. “With no seniors, to go against a ranked Beech Grove team, there are no hanging heads in that locker room tonight.”
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Sophomore Hailee Robbins lead the Grizzly Cubs with 25 points, including seven of their 13 points in the fourth quarter.
“These girls are going to fight. Hailee and all of the girls played tough and came out with a chance to win at the end,” Sabol said.
With four seconds remaining, Franklin called timeout to discuss their last play of the game.
“We had a play drawn up but didn’t get the look we wanted and that resulted in a bad pass,” Sabol said.
Beech Grove (7-0) stole the inbounds pass and was immediately fouled. The free throw missed, but Franklin failed to get a shot off in the final two seconds.
Senior Katie Giller lead Beech Grove with 25 points. She scored 13 in the first quarter but was held in check for the rest of the game.
“Our girls are going to compete,” Sabol said when talking about his team’s near-victory.
Franklin’s lone senior, Maya Elliott, finished the game with 14 points, scoring 11 of those in the second half.
“We aren’t hanging our head over this loss. We are a young team, and they’re a tough, ranked team. We are competitors,” Sabol said.
