Women sweep conference tournament, men fall to East Henderson
Panther women’s hoops are Mountain Seven Tournament Champions.
On the week of Feb. 17 Franklin’s four teams were hard at work, hosting the last two rounds of the conference varsity and JV tourneys. After an upset win over Pisgah and a loss to East Henderson in the finals, Franklin’s varsity teams began preparations for the state playoffs.
Women
Having demolished North Henderson in round 1 on Valentine’s Day, four days later the Panther women hosted West Henderson in the semifinals. Having split two close games with the third-place Falcons this regular season, the second-place Panthers fell behind to start the rubber match, trailing 8-2 five minutes in. After a short timeout the Panthers regrouped, getting four points and a steal from Layla Maloy to end the quarter down 14-13.
Maloy stayed hot in the second, racking up two 3-pointers, a steal and a deflection. West stayed within range on the other end to trail 24-20 at the break.
Both teams stayed neck-and-neck in the third, despite six points from freshman Bristol Brooks. Katelyn Foster added four of her own to end the quarter up 36-32.
Scoring nearly ground to a halt in the fourth, with Franklin leading just 38-36 with less than three minutes to play. The game grew even chippier from there, with several West fouls sending Franklin to the line. There senior McKenna Plemmons stayed cool under pressure, sinking six big free throws to win 49-44.
On Thursday they returned to Tom Raby Court for the conference final, taking on 22-2 (12-0) Pisgah. There they rehashed two Black Bear wins this regular season, including a 70-64 overtime heartbreaker in Franklin.
Aubrey Haley and Bristol Brooks came out firing in the first, combining for three steals and all seven of Franklin’s points. Despite tough Panther defense, Pisgah ended the quarter up by four.
Franklin regrouped in the second, getting 12 more points and a steal from Brooks. Layla Maloy added five points and two steals to take a 24-18 halftime lead.
Both teams stayed neck-and-neck throughout the third, with Brooks scoring seven of Franklin’s eight points. Haley and Anna Stiles added steals to end the quarter down 34-32.
Franklin finally pulled away in the fourth, building a seven-point lead on 3-pointers from Maloy and McKenna Plemmons. Brooks capped a dominant game with the last 11 of her 33 points to win 58-47.
“We knew after the last game here that we could play with them; we just had to do a better job mentally of taking care of the ball and knowing the situations,” said head coach Scott Hartbarger after the game. “We did a little bit better job of rebounding tonight, and they were tenacious on the boards. We were fortunate there towards the end that we were able to get the ball into the guards’ hands, get fouled, and stepped up and hit quite a few free throws to close the game out.”
In upsetting the first-seeded Black Bears for a Mountain Seven Tournament title, the varsity girls completed the sweep, earning Franklin’s third win over Pisgah of the night following the JV girls and boys. Now entering the state playoffs on a three-week hot streak, Hartbarger credited his team for their perseverance.
“I saw a lot of enthusiasm, teammwork and togetherness,” said Hartbarger. “This group’s been through quite a lot of adversity. We’ve lost some tough games, lost some games that we felt like we shouldn’t have, but we stuck together, we kept working hard, and I think that put us at seven [straight] wins together.”
With their seventh straight win the Panthers improved their record to 17-9, defying many preseason expectations for the young team. Finishing as the 20th-ranked team in the 3A West, they traveled to Gastonia Feb. 25 for a first-round state playoff game with #13 (16-7) Hunter Huss.
Men
After the girls’ thrilling win over West Feb. 18, Franklin’s second-place boys took the court for their own semifinal versus North. There Will Rauers came out firing in the first, racking up eight points and a block. The third-place Knights kept pace on offense however, ending the quarter up 17-13.
Franklin tightened up their defense in the second, holding North to just four points in the quarter. Rauers, Braylen Dezarn and Peyton Hervey sank 3-pointers to lead 26-21 at the half.
Rauers stayed hot in the third, scoring seven more points in the quarter. North kept pace on the other end to trail 42-37.
Rauers capped an excellent game in the fourth, posting four points and a steal to help his team pull ahead. Max McClure added six points of his own to win 57-49.
On Thursday they returned to Tom Raby Court for the conference final, taking on 25-0 (12-0) East Henderson. There they rehashed two narrow Eagles wins this regular season, the 10-2 Panthers’ only Mountain Seven losses all year.
East shot out of the gate in the first, scoring 20 points in the quarter despite three Panther steals. Franklin managed just six points on the other end, led by four from Jack Teesateskie.
Rauers helped kickstart the Panther offense in the second, racking up five points and an assist. East kept rolling on the other end however, leading 30-16 at the half.
McClure got Franklin back in range in the third, racking up eight points and a steal. Teesateskie and Rauers added seven points and two steals to end the quarter down just 39-31. East kept their foot on the gas from there however, going on to win 58-42.
In snapping an eight-game win streak dating back to their previous meeting with East, the Panthers dropped to 21-5 on the season. Finishing as the 13th-ranked team in the 3A West, Franklin hosted #20 High Point Central in Round 1 of the state playoffs after press time Feb. 25.