Franklin Central hasn't had much luck against Ben Davis recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Franklin Central Flashes will face off against the Ben Davis Giants at 11:45 a.m. Franklin Central is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 55.6 points per game this season.
Franklin Central is headed into the game after thoroughly thrashing Beech Grove: they outscored them in every quarter. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Franklin Central blew Beech Grove out of the water with a 69-33 final score. The Flashes have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won six contests by 21 points or more this season.
It was another big night for Lily Graves, who went 9 for 15 on her way to 24 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Huotari, who posted nine points and eight assists.
Franklin Central smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive boards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Beech Grove only pulled down two offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, Ben Davis narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Roncalli 40-38. The victory almost wasn't to be: the Giants were down 26-8 in the second quarter.
Ben Davis found their leader in sophomore Shania Curry, who had eight points in addition to eight rebounds and five steals. The dominant performance also gave Curry a new career-high in blocks (four). Another player making a difference was Aubri Ingram, who put up 16 points.
Ben Davis is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches, which provided a massive bump to their 4-6 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 51.0 points per game. As for Franklin Central, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Franklin Central has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 27.5 boards per game. However, it's not like Ben Davis struggles in that department as they've been averaging 24.4 boards. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Franklin Central didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Ben Davis in their previous meeting back in February, but they still walked away with a 67-61 victory. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Ben Davis' Zoe Wheeler, who posted 19 points and four steals. Now that she won't be playing on Saturday, will it be easier for Franklin Central to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
