Andy Scheidler
sports@thefranklinpress.com
After playing 11 nonconference games, Franklin’s girls are undefeated against teams in North Carolina and winless against teams from Georgia.
FHS (8-3) has suffered losses to Rabun County (twice) and Lakeview Academy, but hasn’t dropped any against teams in the Tar Heel state.
On the eve of beginning Mountain Six Conference play, Franklin coach Scott Hartbarger likes how the nonconference portion of the schedule has played out.
“I think our nonconference prepared us for the conference,” said Hartbarger, who’s in his 11th season at the helm. “Rabun brought their pressure, plus Cherokee and Swain did a really good job getting up in our face playing full court man-to-man. Lakeview is really good and challenged us.
“We’ve played some really solid teams to prepare us for our conference.”
Rabun County is the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2-A. The Wildcats are 15-0.
Lakeview Academy, a private school in Gainesville, is 11-5.
Franklin won all three games it played last week. The Panthers beat Tuscola 53-33, topped Cherokee 52-40 and edged Swain County 54-49.
The wins against Cherokee and Swain were rematch affairs in which FHS managed to come out on top once again.
The Panthers narrowly defeated Cherokee 67-65 in the second game of the season, when 27 turnovers nearly derailed them. They did a much better job handling the pressure the second time, Hartbarger said.
“We didn’t it turn over much,” he said. “We turned it over some, but not nearly as much as we did there. And one of the biggest things was rebounding. A lot of times we got second and third looks at the basket. We did a great job on both sides of the ball getting rebounds.”
The rebounding advantage led to a sizeable advantage in shot attempts. FHS hoisted 76 shots compared to 51 for the Braves.
Canaan Drake, a junior forward, led the Panthers in scoring in each game last week. She poured in 17 against Tuscola, 16 against Cherokee and 15 at Swain.
The Panthers also got consistent scoring from Sydney Williams. The sophomore scored 11 against Tuscola, 10 against Cherokee and 10 at Swain.
Playing one night after beating Cherokee, the Panthers came out sluggish at Swain. Fortunately, the bench provided a major boost, especially early. Reserves scored 11 of Franklin’s 13 points in the first quarter.
Chela Green finished with nine points, as did freshman Tori Ensley. Kandice Parker scored four and Kyndell Burns had two. That’s 24 of Franklin’s 54 points.
Rebounding was another strong point. Hartbarger cited one possession where the Panthers took seven shots. It’s a good thing they kept getting offensive rebounds, he said, but he’d like to see one of their shots drop sooner.
They’ve made multiple changes in their press break this season, but Hartbarger thinks it’s effective now and the girls are learning to value the ball.
“We’ve been trying to cut down on turnovers, quit having empty possessions and unforced turnovers,” he said. “They’re understanding that. We tweaked the press offense to where we get it to our bigs and they throw over the top of it, so we’re doing a good job there.”
Despite the losses to Georgia teams, the Panthers enter Mountain Six Conference play with the best record. Pisgah is 8-4, Brevard is 6-3, Smoky Mountain is 6-4, Hendersonville is 5-4 and East Henderson is 5-7.
With 11 games down and 12 to go (10 in MSC play and two nonconference), it’s the halfway point of the regular season.
Hartbarger told the Panthers to be ready because the rest of the season will fly by. And while he didn’t directly say it, he appears to have one MSC team on his mind when it comes to contending for the title.
“We have to really focus in,” Hartbarger said. “We know Pisgah is a tough, tough place to play. But we’ve won over there before. We just have to focus in and go get it done.”
MaxPreps rankings
Franklin 16
Pisgah 35
Brevard 36
Smoky Mountain 49
Hendersonville 64
East Henderson 99