Basketball Recap: Elijah Thompson's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Franklin Central over Avon

Franklin Central lost against Avon back in February of 2024, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. The Franklin Central Flashes lost 68-43 to the Avon Orioles. While losing is never fun, the Flashes can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 100th, while the Orioles are ranked second).

Elijah Thompson

Rebounds

02/14/25 @ Avon	8
01/29/25 vs Perry Meridian	8
01/03/25 vs Jeffersontown	8
01/09/25 vs Southport	7
12/14/24 vs Bloomington North	7
+ 13 more games

Several Flashes players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Elijah Thompson, who went 5-for-9 on his way to 12 points and eight rebounds. Thompson has become a key player for Franklin Central: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least eight boards, but 4-12 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Raymond Hayes, who posted 14 points.

Avon's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jedidiah Minnett led the charge by going 9-for-16 to rack up 22 points and five rebounds. That's the most points Minnett has posted since back in January of 2024. Another player making a difference was Rohan Pearson, who earned eight points in addition to nine boards and seven assists.

Franklin Central dropped their record down to 6-13 with the defeat, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Avon, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 17-2.

Coming up, Franklin Central will face off against Westfield at 7:30 p.m. on February 21st. One thing working in Westfield's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last four contests. As for Avon, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next game, a 65-52 win against Carmel on the 15th.