Preview: Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs vs. Evansville North Huskies
The Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs and the Evansville North Huskies will face off at 4:00 p.m. on February 10th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Each of these teams will be battling to keep a three-game winning streak alive.
With a playoff game on the line, Franklin Community rose to the challenge on Saturday. They skirted past the Warriors 45-42. Given Franklin Community's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked sixth, while Whiteland is ranked 138th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Franklin Community got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Lauren Klem out in front who scored ten points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Klem is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed four or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Erica Buening, who scored ten points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Evansville North beat Evansville Central 52-46 on Saturday.
Evansville North's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Maddy Knies led the charge by almost dropping a double-double on nine points and ten rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Aliah Epps, who scored ten points.
Franklin Community is on a roll lately: they've won 18 of their last 19 matches, which provided a nice bump to their 23-3 record this season. As for Evansville North, their victory bumped their record up to 16-10.
Saturday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: Franklin Community have been dynamite from deep this season, having drained 42.2% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Evansville North struggles in that department as they've made 42.6% of their threes this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
