Franklin leads Era past Alvord
Jan. 22—An Era senior set a new career high Friday night during a hard-fought Lady Hornets victory.
Kiara Franklin led the Era girls' basketball team to a 61-58 win against Alvord in an important district home game which went down to the final shot.
Era (18-9 overall, 6-2 District 13-2A) is now tied with Alvord for second place in the district after avenging a 48-46 road loss from Dec. 14.
Alvord (19-10, 6-2) had a strong start to the game, but the Lady Hornets came from behind and did just enough to get the win.
Neu said Franklin and her Alvord counterpart both played outstanding.
"(Franklin) was unconscious," Neu said. "Her and (Alvord senior Rachae Fowler), you've got two really good players on the floor. Fowler is a dang-good player, but I thought... our defense did a good job of collapsing on her, and everything she did make, she had to really force. They did a good job on Kiara for the longest time, too."
Franklin scored 38 points, while Fowler had 21. Franklin scored the first points of each quarter. Era opened the second half with three-straight 3-pointers, two of them from Franklin. She hit four in total.
Era needed every bit of it. Alvord took a 54-52 lead in the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run before Franklin tied the game. The Lady Bulldogs retook the lead soon after, but Franklin hit a 3-point shot to put Era back ahead 57-56.
In the second half, Alvord often double-teamed Franklin or had a defender pick up her in the back court, trying to do anything to slow her down. Franklin said it didn't faze her.
"Honestly, that gave me a lot of confidence, just knowing that I'm good enough to be double-teamed," Franklin said. "I guess that doesn't sound the best, but I (also) knew that if two girls are on me, then I have a teammate open."
Alvord retook the lead in the final 30 seconds, but Era junior Ella Haseloff scored on the following possession, quickly putting the Lady Hornets back on top.
With seconds left, Alvord fouled Era senior Bailee Bowden. She hit the floor hard and seemed shaken up. Although it looked like she would have to come out of the game, she shook it off, stepped to the free throw line and hit two clutch shots to extend Era's lead to 3. Alvord's resulting desperation heave from half court bounced off the back board as Era held on to the win.
Neu said Bowden showed toughness, as did the entire team.
"I told Bailee, I said, 'You're going to have to shoot these free throws, otherwise I gotta take you out,'" Neu said. "She was like, 'I can do it. I can do it.' So, she did it, which was big."
Bowden was Era's second-leading scorer with 10 points.
As for Franklin, she said she wasn't sure where her 38-point performance came from. Her best guess? Her pregame meal.
"We had Taco Casa before the game," Franklin said. "I think that's our good luck charm now."
