It was a little extra motivation for Franklin, and it was all good. The Wildcats ran their winning streak to seven by spanking the Skyhawks 61-31 in a first-round contest at Troy.
PHOTOS: Nick Graham’s gallery from the game
“I’m a happy coach. They did well,” Franklin coach Leah Sams said. “We’re athletic, we’re young, and we have some coachable kids. It’s nice to be deep for once in my life.”
Layne Ferrell, the Southwestern Buckeye League’s top scorer, paced the Wildcats with 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Freshman forward Kaylee Harris tallied a career-high 13 points and added eight boards.
Sams pointed out that it was the first D-I tournament victory in program history, so it was a big night for Franklin (15-8).
“We thought it was going to be evenly matched,” Harris said. “Sams just told us to come out here and prove everybody wrong. I think that’s one of our best games yet, and they’re just going to get better from here.”
The Wildcats will return to Troy on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. sectional semifinal against No. 12 Northmont (10-13). The Thunderbolts beat No. 11 Stebbins 60-56 in Monday’s opener.
“I told the girls we should be playing Friday,” said Sams, with No. 1 Wayne expected to be waiting in the sectional final. “We wanted to play Northmont. It should be fun. We’ll see if we can pull off another one.”
Franklin never trailed against Fairborn (11-12), which played without point guard Khala Powell because of a concussion.
The Skyhawks shot poorly, fell behind 11-2 in the opening five minutes and were never really in the game. Evelyn Oktavec’s 10 points led Fairborn, and teammate Kaylie Cook was 9 of 12 from the foul line.
“Losing our point guard hurt us pretty bad,” Skyhawks coach Billy Harchick said. “Franklin’s defense was great. We knew they were going to come in and work hard on Ev, and we couldn’t get people to make shots. I don’t know what our shooting percentage was, but it couldn’t be good.”
The Wildcats got six points apiece from Emily Newton, Ashley Fisher and Skyler Weir, and Newton hauled in 11 rebounds. Nine Franklin players scored.
Sams said her squad has come a long way since its 1-5 start. Ferrell is clearly the Wildcats’ top player, but contributions are coming from up and down the roster.
“We’re not a one-person team,” Sams said. “We are a team with a Division I athlete, and we have a bunch of kids that can play basketball with her. We didn’t have that at the beginning of the season, so at Christmas, we sat down and made goals. One of them was we wanted six or more players scoring every single game.
“They want to rely on Layne sometimes, and that’s not going to happen because she’s going to get her 20 and she wants to pass the ball. Layne is not a selfish player. Her assists have doubled in the second half of the season.”
Players like Harris have stepped up. She scored all of her points in the middle two quarters Monday, and her previous best offensive output was nine points against Carlisle on Feb. 2.
“I don’t know where that came from,” said a smiling Harris, who brought a 2.6 scoring average into Monday’s affair. “The rest of my team helped me out. It wasn’t a one-man show. We all worked together. I still get kind of nervous because I feel like everybody’s older and more experienced than me, but I just have to work through it.”
Sams wasn’t surprised by Franklin’s dominance. She figured the Wildcats were 10-15 points better than Fairborn at full strength. With Powell sidelined, Sams expected a 25-point win.
“They outdid me,” the Franklin coach said. “We were worried about Evelyn, but she was their only ball handler. Our focus was wearing her out. Our keys were stopping her and getting out in transition. They don’t play very many people, and I go deep.”
Harchick, a 2006 Fairborn graduate, completed his first year at the Skyhawks helm. He was the junior varsity boys coach at his alma mater the last three seasons.
“It’s hard coming in with a new coach and a different style, and they all bought in and did a heck of a job this year,” Harchick said. “Last year they were 6-17, so I consider this season a win.”
Fairborn 5-5-12-9—31
Franklin 15-15-13-18—61
FAIRBORN (11-12): Evelyn Oktavec 4 0 10, Kaylie Cook 0 9 9, Marina Suarez 3 0 6, Jasmine McMoore 0 1 1, Jana Brown-Griffith 1 0 2, Chloe Johnson 1 0 3. Totals: 9-10-31
FRANKLIN (15-8): Kaylee Harris 6 1 13, Emma Bicknell 1 2 4, Kristin Earles 0 2 2, Skyler Weir 2 0 6, Jessica King 2 0 5, Ashley Fisher 3 0 6, Layne Ferrell 4 8 17, Brooke Stover 0 2 2, Emily Newton 3 0 6. Totals: 21-15-61
3-pointers: FB 3 (Oktavec 2, Johnson), FR 4 (Weir 2, King, Ferrell)
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