The Franklin Central Flashes waltzed into their match on Tuesday with two straight wins but they left with three. They snuck past Southport with a 54-50 victory. Given Franklin Central's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 40th, while Southport is ranked 135th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Franklin Central to victory, but perhaps none more so than EJ Hazelett, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds. Hazelett has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Carson Back, who scored nine points.
Southport's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Michael Johnson, who scored 16 points along with five assists and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of James Kalala, who scored ten points along with nine rebounds and three steals.
Franklin Central has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests, which provided a massive bump to their 6-6 record this season. As for Southport, they are on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 3-8.
Franklin Central won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Ben Davis at 6:30 p.m. on January 10th. Ben Davis has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 345 points over their last five contests. As for Southport, they will head out on the road to take on Beech Grove at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Beech Grove is on a four-game streak of home losses, Southport a four-game streak of away losses, but someone's luck is about to change.
