ARCANUM – The Franklin-Monroe Jets opened up the Roy Hutchison Memorial tournament last Friday by opening up their playbook and dispatching upstart Brookville 57-24. Abbey Moore’s team is now 1-0 while Braden Kindell’s squad from Montgomery County drops to 0-1.
The first quarter showed the Jets running their plays and hitting the open lady to fly out to an impressive 18-6 quarter. The 12-point advantage was a precursor of things to come as the Jets continued to build on their lead except for the third canto which was even steven as the saying goes. Corina Conley led the Jets with 6 points while Kennedy Morris followed closely with 5 markers. Bailyn Kimberlin led the Blue Devils from the Southwestern Buckeye league with 4 counters.
Second quarter showings really showed the Jets dominating defense and offense on both ends of the court. The Darke County squad lit up the scoreboard for 19 points in 8 minutes of action while holding the Blue Devils to a minuscule 3. Belle Cable hit her first three of the night for her quarter leading 5, Conley and Stella Shellabarger bopped in 4 apiece to help the lead increase. Brookville could only counter with Hannah Smart’s bucket from underneath.
Third quarter theatrics saw Brookville’s best offerings as they erupted for 12 markers to match the Jets dozen for the eight minutes of up and down action. The Jets only had two players score for the frame, Cable with seven and five for the consistent Conley. The Blue Devils unleashed Emily Mason who took off like a comet and scorched the nets for half a dozen, followed in tow by Christine Bronner’s four.
Enough was enough for the Jets in the fourth as they hung up 8 for the hangar faithful and shut down the upstart Devils with only 3 for a five-point quarter margin. Franklin- Monroe was again led by junior Conley who was in the right place at the right time for half of the teams point production with 4. Brookville was fortunate to score with the imposing Jet defense and were led by ever improving Abby Cousineau’s 2 points.
“We came out strong and played our game tonight. We finished up strong and we all played well. Belle played a well-rounded game and Corina controlled the post and was a force on the boards. It was a good team effort overall and it is always good to open the season with a win. We must get better in all facets of our game as the championship game will be a test to see where we are as a squad,” Moore said.
Scoring for Franklin-Monroe: Skylar Bauman 2, Cable 14, Conley 19, Morris 7, Chloe McGlinch 4, Shellabarger 9 and Chloe Peters 2 for 57 points. Jets had 4 threes overall and six freebies all by Conley.
For Brookville: Smart 5, Kimberlin 4, Malerie Ross 1, Bronner 4, Mason 6 and Cousineau 4 for their total of 24. Blue Devils held to no threes and only two free throws.
