BROOKVILLE – Franklin Monroe doubled up Springfield Catholic Central in the first half, 28-14, and never looked back on its way to a 44-25 opening round win in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division IV Brookville girls basketball sectional tournament.
The Jets got off to a 4-0 start on buckets from Corina Conley and Belle Cable to start the game.
The Irish made a triple to get on the board at 5:36.
FM extended its lead to 11-3 on fielder and two free throws from Conley, a bucket from Audrey Cable and two more free throws from Belle Cable.
Catholic Central answered with a field goal and a triple at the horn to trail 13-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Belle Cable had it going in the second quarter, scoring 8 points including a triple to end the first half with the Jets up 28-14.
FM had a lull offensively in the third quarter, scoring just 6 points and allowing 9 with the Irish denting the lead down to 34-23.
The Franklin Monroe defense was in full force in the final frame, holding Springfield Catholic to just 2 points.
The Jets then salted the game away at the free throw line, going a combined 22-for-30 in the game and 8-for-12 in the fourth period to win it going away, 44-25.
“Getting to the free throw line was a big difference in the game,” Franklin Monroe girls basketball coach Abbey Moore said. “Not only did we get there often, we knocked them down, too.”
Coach Moore was quick to point out how well her defense played, not just in the fourth quarter but the entire game.
“Our girls work hard in practice, and I told them at the beginning of the year I’m going to push you hard because I want you to get better,” she said. “Sometimes you aren’t going to like it, but in the end it’s going to pay off, and that kind of showed today. Defensively we wore them down to the point they only scored 2 points in the last quarter, and we were going to the free throw line to finish it up.”
The Jets were led by Conley with 18 points, Belle Cable had 10 and Audrey Cable 9 in the win.
It was the 20th win of the season for Lady Jets, reaching a mark only two other teams in Franklin Monroe history have achieved.
Ironically one of them was the 2003-04 team coached by Ned Moore and current coach Abbey Moore played on that team, going 20-4 that year.
The other team to reach that mark was the 1991-92 team coached by Jeff Cassel, and it finished the season at 21-3.
The Lady Jets currently are 20-3 and looking to add to that total with a chance to match the most wins in school history, but to do that they will have to get through Bradford who is their second round opponent in the tournament.
“I am very proud of this team for reaching 20 wins. That is a true testament of how hard every single girl works every day. Every game moving forward is going to be a battle, and we will have to give our best to get No. 21,” Coach Moore.
Box score:
Score by quarters:
SCC … 08 … 06 … 09 … 02 – 25
FM … 13 … 15 … 06 … 10 – 44
Individual scoring:
Springfield Catholic Central – Skeens 2, Doolittle 6, Ray 3, Baker 7, Patterson 7;
Totals 3-7-0/2 – 25
Franklin Monroe – Chloe Brumbaugh 1, Belle Cable 10, Corina Conley 18, Kennedy Morris 6, Audrey Cable 9; Totals 2-8-22/30 – 44
