Here’s where Franklin’s girls basketball team currently stands:
• 16-3 overall record
• 6-0 in the Mountain Six Conference, first place by two games
• Ranked No. 8 in the MaxPreps.com 2-A ranking
• Riding an 11-game winning streak
“I like where we’re at, obviously,” coach Scott Hartbarger said. “The goal is to win out.”
Four regular season games remain for the Panthers. After Friday’s game at Brevard, the final three will all be at home.
Winning all four would give Franklin 20 wins, plus it would give Hartbarger 200 for his career.
“The goal is no hiccups, no bumps in the road,” said Hartbarger, who’s in his 11th season at the helm.
Avoiding any hiccups, aka losses, shouldn’t be an issue if the Panthers continue playing suffocating defense.
They allowed only 27 points at Smoky Mountain. It was a season-low output for the Mustangs and Franklin’s best defensive performance to date.
The Panthers followed that by limiting Hendersonville to 31 points and Hayesville to 38.
“We’re very active,” Hartbarger said. “In the second half against Smoky, our length bothered them. We got deflections and steals. And the pressure bothered them a little, too.”
Having so many tall players with long arms certainly is a defensive strength. Smaller teams struggle moving the ball around in the half court, plus they typically struggle getting rebounds.
Sydney Williams, Canaan Drake and Makayla Brewer are Franklin’s leading scorers and rebounders.
Drake is averaging a team-best 9.7 points per game, followed by Williams (8.7), Brewer (7.2), Tori Ensley (6.4), Sierra Wade (6.4) and Nevaeh Tran (4.7).
The Panthers are allowing 42.0 points per game, which shrinks to 34.8 in conference play.
Being able to match up and play man-to-man or pack it in with a 2-3 zone gives them the versatility to pick and chose which defense to employ based on the opponent.
For Brevard, which Hartbarger said has some good guards, he anticipates starting out in man to see how the Blue Devils handle it, before likely switching to zone.
Brevard has come the closest of any team in the MSC to beating Franklin. It took a pair of free throws from Brewer with 11.9 seconds remaining to pull out a 38-36 win.
The Blue Devils have since lost to Hendersonville and Pisgah and are fourth in the standings.
The Panthers are ranked in the top 10 in 2-A, one spot behind Mountain Heritage for the best team in WNC.
Obviously, the higher they’re ranked means the higher they’ll be seeded in the NCHSAA playoffs. And the higher they’re seeded, the more home games they’ll potentially play.
The Panthers are 7-1 at home this season. They’ve won 75 percent of their games in the Panther Den under Hartbarger.
As the end of the regular season approaches, the Panthers will keep honing their defense.
“Try to get better at the things we like to do, such as applying pressure and working on our zone,” Hartbarger said. “We use a zone shell drill where we work on positions and where to be. And we’ll practice our man, of course. Just keep trying to sharpen up the things we like to do.”