By Ryan O’Leary
For The Daily Reporter
FRANKLIN — Franklin didn’t find itself mentioned in the preseason state rankings. On Thursday night, it decided to remind folks that it still belongs in the conversation.
Lauren Klem scored 20 points, including three straight 3-pointers during a decisive second-quarter burst, and led the way in harassing DePaul recruit Ellery Minch as the Grizzly Cubs opened their season with a 58-31 home win over Mt. Vernon.
“They just pressured us and we didn’t attack the pressure very well,” Marauders coach Julie Shelton said.
The Grizzly Cubs’ five senior starters looked like the best version of themselves from the jump, with Lauren Klem and Scarlett Kimbrell hitting early 3-pointers and the 5-foot-4 Klem stripping the 6-3 Minch multiple times in the backcourt to help build a 10-2 lead.
A Franklin cold spell late in the first quarter, coupled with a pair of deep 3s from Minch, got the Marauders as close as 12-10 early in the second before the home team heated back up. Kimbrell responded to a Kaitlyn Laffey layup with a 3 at the other end, and Klem followed with three unanswered treys. The last of those, a bomb from the left corner with 2:17 remaining in the half, stretched the Grizzly Cubs’ advantage to 28-12.
“It felt good,” Klem said, “because in the summer and all throughout the preseason I’ve just been working on my confidence, so just coming out and being able to hit those 3s definitely felt good.”
Two more long-distance makes from Maggie Doty and Klem — her fifth of the half — put Franklin up by 20 before Easton Wampler slowed the onslaught with a 3-pointer at the other end. The Grizzly Cubs took a 36-17 cushion into the locker room.
Franklin slowed down a bit offensively in the second half but still maintained a safe cushion, emptying the bench after a York layup made it 56-30 with two and a half minutes to go.
About the lone bright spot for Mt. Vernon (1-1) came with 3:17 left to go in the third quarter, when Minch sank a free throw for her 11th point of the game and the 1,000th of her career.
“It’s awesome,” Shelton said of Minch’s achievement. “I felt like the rest of us played really scared, and I thought she tried to compete, but she had a lot of people on her most of the game and it was difficult. So for her to at least get her 1,000 points, and I think she had a few rebounds and worked pretty hard, was definitely the best part of the game.”
That the milestone point came at the foul line was fitting, given that Mt. Vernon hit just six shots from the field — none in the final 12 minutes — and got more than half of its points at the stripe, where it finished 16 of 20.
Doty and Brooklyn York each joined Klem in double figures with 10 points for Franklin. Laffey contributed nine points for the Marauders in defeat.
“We have to guard and rebound,” Shelton said. “We gave up way too many offensive rebounds and set shots today; we knew that’s what was coming, and we didn’t do what we needed to do.”
