Franklin coach John Rossi said it was a point of emphasis coming in that his team had to limit the Patriots’ runs.
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WRESTLING COVERAGE
» Ross junior reaches state final, five others will hit podium
“And the next thing you know it was 17-3,” he said. “I don’t want to say it was lights out. I felt our kids continued to play hard for the rest of the night. It just wasn’t enough.”
Ferrell closed her memorable prep career with 21 points and eight rebounds as the Wildcats finished 22-5. Friday’s contest represented the first regional-final appearance in school history.
“I grew up with all these girls. It will be hard to walk away,” said Ferrell, who will move on to play at the University of Akron. “But I definitely don’t regret anything. We all had good attitudes, and that took us a long way.”
It was the final contest for Ferrell and fellow seniors Emily Newton, Skyler Weir and Emma Bicknell. Franklin is 41-12 in the first two seasons of the Rossi era after Leah Sams resigned following the 2016-17 campaign.
“There’s way, way more positives than negatives this season,” Rossi said. “We’re going to miss our four seniors. Just great kids. Very classy kids. Hard-working kids. They epitomized what a student-athlete is, and it’s going to be tough to replace that. But our program will be better off for them putting the time in, especially the last couple years. I just can’t say enough about those seniors.”
Carroll (26-2), the Greater Catholic League Coed North Division champion, looked fast and confident right from the get-go. The Wildcats knocked off the Patriots in triple overtime in last year’s district finals, so motivation wasn’t a problem Friday.
Julia Keller collected 18 points and six rebounds to pace Carroll. Ava Lickliter scored 12 points and Allie Stefanek added 11.
“Oh my God, it’s a great feeling,” said Keller, a junior center. “Especially from losing to them last year in the district finals. We needed to win this game. We wanted to win this game. We were more motivated than ever to beat them.”
Patriots coach Cecilia Grosselin loved the execution by her team at the both ends of the floor.
“We always told them nothing is guaranteed,” she said. “You have to work for every single thing you get. They came out and they worked, and they knew they had to. We did not take them lightly.”
Carroll’s advantage in quickness was clear all night. The Patriots all move well and everybody they put on the floor can score, making them a nightmare to defend.
“We’re not a big team, so we have to go to other attributes that we have, and quickness and athleticism is one of them,” Grosselin said.
Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary is next for Carroll in a 6 p.m. state semifinal Thursday at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. The Patriots have made it to state once before, finishing second in 2011.
“Hopefully we can win the semis, go to the finals and finish where they left off,” Keller said.
Rossi said Carroll will be “a hard out” in Columbus.
“They really looked like a state championship-type team today,” he said. “It was tough for us to offset their shooting. We missed a lot of point-blank ones, but give them credit. They shot the basketball extremely well.”
Five different players scored for the Patriots in the first period, with Keller getting six points and Stefanek five. Ferrell said the Wildcats were a bit shell-shocked in the opening eight minutes.
“It definitely deflated us,” she said. “I felt like we were in slow motion at the beginning of the game. We knew they were good. We went over everything in practice. We knew they could shoot. It just wasn’t there today. We were definitely missing easy shots. That was all of us, not just one person.”
The early deficit prompted Rossi to use a quicker lineup in an attempt to keep up with Carroll, and that move led to a combined nine points from Kristin and Madison Earles. But the Patriots’ lead never dropped below eight after the first period.
Jordan Rogers scored eight points for the Wildcats, and Rogers and Kaylee Harris both hauled in four rebounds.
Franklin committed 11 turnovers and converted 6-of-12 free throws. Carroll turned the ball over seven times and was 14-of-19 at the line.
Franklin 3-10-14-16—43
Carroll 17-6-19-15—57
FRANKLIN (22-5): Jordan Rogers 3 1 8; Layne Ferrell 7 4 21; Emily Newton 0 1 1; Kaylee Harris 2 0 4; Kristin Earles 2 0 5; Madison Earles 2 0 4. Totals: 16-6-43
CARROLL (26-2): Ava Lickliter 2 8 12; Elisabeth Bush 3 0 6; Allie Stefanek 5 0 11; Megan Leraas 2 2 7; Julia Keller 7 3 18; Sarah Ochs 1 0 2; Jillian Roberts 0 1 1. Totals: 20-14-57
3-pointers: F 5 (Ferrell 3, Rogers, K. Earles), C 3 (Leraas, Stefanek, Keller)
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