HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – After blowing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Franklin County High School girls basketball team regained its composure and advanced to the state final for the first time in 36 years.
Princess Stewart scored 17 points and Dasia Kilbourne added 15 as the Flyers defeated Mercer County 55-51 on Saturday in the semifinals of the St. Elizabeth Healthcare/KHSAA Sweet 16 at BB&T Arena.
Franklin County closed the game with a 9-3 run.
“Sometimes we’re not a portrait of perfection,” Flyers coach Joey Thacker said, “so we just have to gut it out.”
Rebecca Cook (10 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks) also had a big game as Franklin County (31-4) – No. 5 in the state in The Courier-Journal’s Litkenhous Ratings – advanced to face the Butler-Murray winner in Sunday’s 2 p.m. championship game.
Franklin County also reached the state final in 1980, falling to Butler 65-49.
“We’re in a situation we’ve all dreamed about,” Thacker said. “We’ll get ready to throw it up (Sunday).”
Emma Davis scored 13 points and Lyric Houston added 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 4 Mercer County (31-6), which had defeated Franklin County 75-66 on Jan. 14.
Star sophomore Seygan Robins hit just 3 of 12 shots (0 for 6 from 3-point range) and finished with nine points before fouling out with 2:54 remaining. That came 1 second after Faith Lake hit two free throws to cap a 13-0 run that gave the Titans a 48-46 lead.
“Seygan had a frustrating game,” Titans coach Chris Souder said. “She tries to do too much sometimes. She wants to make the big play, and we had just told her to be careful. That’s the sophomore coming out in her. Seygan was pretty upset, but we’re not here if it’s not for Seygan.”
Dasia Kilbourne’s two free throws tied the score at 48 with 2:54 left, and Stewart’s basket gave the Flyers the lead for good, 50-48, with 2:20 left.
Houston’s 3-point play pulled the Titans within 53-51 with 8 seconds left, but Cook sank two free throws with 7.4 seconds left for the final margin.
The Flyers shot just 39.6 percent but held the Titans to a 31.5-percent clip and won the rebounding battle 41-35. Franklin County also outscored Mercer County 40-22 in the paint.
“Lord knows we haven’t exactly been able to hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle since we’ve been down here,” Thacker said of his team’s shooting woes. “They know we have to survive on that defense-rebounding mentality.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
MERCER COUNTY 11 14 10 16 – 51
FRANKLIN COUNTY 9 20 15 11 – 55
Mercer County (31-6) – Souder 4, Houston 12, Robins 9, F. Lake 10, Davis 13, Burke 3.
Franklin County (31-4) – Frank 6, Kilbourne 15, Stewart 17, Arrastia 3, Cook 10, Courtney 4.
3-point goals – F. Lake, Davis 3, Burke; Arrastia.