TROY – The Franklin-Monroe girls basketball season came to an end falling to Legacy Christian 49-34 on Saturday afternoon. The Jets final record was 19-7 where they won the Roy Hutchinson Memorial Tournament to start the year, won a sectional title and reached the district finals for the first time since the 2007-08 season and finished as district runners-up.
The Jets got off to a good start against Legacy Christian with Corina Conley scoring the first 5 points, but the Knights charged back going on a 9-3 run to take the first quarter lead 9-8.
Franklin-Monroe scored just two baskets in the second quarter, both triples with one from Conley and the other from Chloe McGlinch. Legacy began to convert inside after missing a number of layups in the opening frame and took a 23-14 lead into the break.
The offensive woes continued into the third quarter as the Jets were unable to make shots. Legacy extended the lead to 31-14 for a 17-point lead at the 5-minute mark and sensing that it was a critical point in the game, FM coach Abbey Moore signaled for a timeout.
“I looked at the girls and said this is it, look at these people behind you, you’re playing for them, you’re playing for your teammates, we have to go out and give all of our effort,” Moore stated.
“They responded and gave everything they had just like they have done all season, but we were spent, and the hole we dug was too deep,” Moore added.
The Jets cut the lead down to 5 at 33-28 by the 4-minute mark of the fourth quarter, but Legacy Christian withstood the rally and simply had too many weapons to contain.
Emma Moss had a big fourth quarter scoring 12 of her game-high 18 points to take back control for the Knights as she willed her team to the district title by the score of 49-34.
Franklin-Monroe suffered one of their worst shooting nights of the year. Corina Conley led the Jets with 16 points and finished the year with 459 points the third-most in a single season while also surpassing 1,000 points for her career.
After the game a clearly dejected coach Moore shared more about her team and the effort they gave throughout the year.
“I can’t say enough about the heart of this team. They never quit. We got down early, but put a nice run together to try and get back in it. I thought maybe we had a little bit left in the tank, but we just ran out of gas,” Moore said.
“It’s definitely not the way you want the season to end, not playing your best, but we gave all we had. This game is a lot like the story of our season.”
“Our story all year right from the start with losing our point guard Audrey Cable was to overcome adversity; then on senior night we lose our only senior and 4-year player Kennedy Morris with a season ending injury, and yet despite all that, look what we’ve accomplished,” Moore said.
The future is still looking good after back-to-back seasons of 21-4 and 19-7 with the core group returning next season. That plus the support of their community should be plenty of motivation for them to get better in the offseason.
“The support we get from this community is why I love coaching here,” Moore concluded.
Score by quarters
Franklin-Monroe^8^6^5^15^–^34
Legacy Christian^9^14^8^18^–^49
Individual scoring:
Franklin-Monroe – Bauman 1, Cable 6, Conley 16, McGlinch 7, Shellabarger 2, Peters 12. Totals 4-7-8/12 – 34.
Legacy Christian – Kensinger 6, Riddle 12, Abner 3, Leach 2, Mess 18, Matthews 8. Totals 6-10-11/13 – 49.
