There's no place like home for the Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs, who bounced back after a tough loss on the road last Tuesday. They had just enough and edged Whiteland out 58-55. Given Franklin Community's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 16th, while Whiteland is ranked 74th), the result on Friday wasn't entirely unexpected.
Micah Davis was his usual excellent self, scoring 36 points along with three steals. He hasn't dropped below two steals for seven straight games. Another player making a difference was Malakai Bravard, who scored four points along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Whiteland's defeat came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jaskirat Banwait, who scored 12 points along with six rebounds and five assists. Wiatt Mclaughlin was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with six rebounds.
Franklin Community pushed their record up to 11-2 with that victory, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.2 points per game. As for Whiteland, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 10-7.
Franklin Community won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against New Palestine at 7:30 p.m. on January 20th. New Palestine knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past ten contests -- so hopefully Franklin Community likes a good challenge. As for Whiteland, they will be playing at home against Mooresville at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Mooresville focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 15 on Saturday.
