Franklin found its sweet spot on the floor Friday night, and it was 15 feet from the basket and unguarded.
The Grizzly Cubs converted 24 of 28 free throw attempts to defeat host Greenwood in girls basketball 64-56.
Fourteen of Franklin’s made charities came in the final quarter as it kept the Woodmen from getting any closer than three points. Three Cubs teamed to go 6 of 8 from the foul stripe in the final 1:27 to seal the win.
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“The one thing about our girls is they love to shoot. I don’t have to them excited about shooting in practice or shooting in the offseason,” said Franklin coach Josh Sabol, whose squad improved to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in the Mid-State Conference standings.
“The free throws, I’m pretty confident about our group when they go to the line.”
Sophomore guard Hailee Robbins led three Grizzly Cubs in double-figures with 22 points before fouling out with 2:12 remaining. Freshman point guard Kyra Baker delivered 15 points, while senior forward Maya Elliott scored 11.
The game’s leading scorer with 24 points was Greenwood senior forward Leah Moore, who also fouled out late. Junior guards Bailee Taft and Alex Kincaid added 12 and 10, respectively, with the 5-foot-8 Kincaid leading all rebounders with 12.
Coach Bill Torgerson’s club out-boarded Franklin, 29-24, but couldn’t overcome its 22 turnovers – 11 each half.
“There’s a lot of easy passes that could be made against that defense. It slows you down, and you have to be patient, but I thought we rushed a little bit,” Torgerson said.
“We were coming off a good win in Rushville. I felt this was a game we could’ve won. Two pretty evenly matched teams. Again, I would point to those turnovers and they also broke us down on dribble penetration and got some easy shots.”
Greenwood evened its record at 7-7, but dropped to 0-4 in league play. The Woodmen step out of conference Tuesday when they host Indian Creek.
The Cubs get right back to work this evening when they welcome Shelbyville.
“I’ve said this before, but I just love this group,” Sabol said. “They exemplify our culture. They come in and they work hard, have very good camaraderie and it’s a privilege to practice with this bunch and to coach this bunch every single day.”
