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Franklinville Rallies Late To Edge Maple Grove, 52-45

Maple Grove’s Riley Caskey (4) drives to the basket while being defended by Franklinville’s Abby Burrell during Saturday’s nonleague game. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

With Saturday’s nonleague girls basketball game closing in on four minutes remaining, Dani Haskell saw her layup attempt roll off the rim.

And when her 3-pointer failed to draw iron less than 30 seconds later, the talented senior guard’s frustration was written all over her face.

But Haskell’s Franklinville teammates had her back.

The Panthers used a 10-2 run in the final three minutes, including six points by someone other than No. 22, to post a 52-45 victory over Maple Grove in a battle between two teams that ended last season in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Final Four.

The victory raised Franklinville’s record to 6-3, while the Red Dragons fell to 6-5.

“Dani garners so much attention that other kids are going to get open looks,” Panthers coach Allan Dunlap said. “Credit to them for stepping up and hitting some big ones, for sure.”

Haskell finished with a game-high 29 points, but Maple Grove made her work for every one of them before the hosts seemingly ran out of gas.

“We played well for 30 minutes,” Red Dragons coach Bill Price said. “We tired out at the end. (Haskell) can hurt you in so many ways … but we didn’t shoot particularly well tonight, which hurt us.”

Leading by a point following a traditional 3-point play by Sam Snow and a layup by Riley Caskey — both following Haskell’s misses mentioned above — Maple Grove forced Dunlap to call a timeout.

The Panthers responded to his message.

Abby Burrell drilled a 3-pointer, Haskell did the same about 30 seconds later and then Abby McCoy nailed another trey at the 1:38 mark.

“McCoy hit a dagger,” Price said.

Three makes from deep in 90 seconds fueled the decisive run, allowing the 2019 NYSPHSAA Class D champions to escape the Dutch Hollow Road gymnasium with a victory.

“What a fantastic game for us to play, first and foremost,” Dunlap said. “They are a quality program with quality people. Those kids work hard, they’re physical and tough. … The level of competition and nice atmosphere will certainly benefit us down the road. We could see them again.”

A Class C school this season, Franklinville could meet Maple Grove, which advanced to the state semifinals in that classification last March, when the Section VI playoffs begin in a couple months.

McCoy finished with 11 points, including three treys in the second half, to complement Haskell’s 29.

“I think with Dani back (after missing several games early in the season due to illness) all the pieces are starting to fall back into place,” Dunlap said. “The kids are starting to understand what their role is with her on the floor a little bit better. She changes everything. It’s hard for kids to look at their role, accept their role and love their role, but I think we’re starting to do that.”

The Red Dragons were led by Anna Tranum with 14 points, Caskey with 12, Erin Mansfield with 8 and Bre Hill with 6. Hill also added 12 rebounds, three steals and three blocks; Tranum grabbed 10 boards; and Maddie Price chipped in five rebounds.

Maple Grove, which committed only 12 turnovers, led by as many as 9 points in the first half, but Franklinville went on a 9-0 run before the break, courtesy of a layup by Gabby Milligan, and two 3-pointers and a free throw by Haskell, to head to the locker room with the game tied, 26-all.

Franklinville continued its run to start the third quarter, racing to a 39-30 advantage before settling for a 42-36 lead heading into the final period. The game remained close the rest of the way until the Panthers used their late surge to finally secure the victory.

“We just didn’t score (enough),” Price said. “We stressed going in that we were going to win the game in the paint. A couple times we missed people that were open, which is frustrating, and then when we did get it in there we just didn’t finish.”

FRANKLINVILLE (52)

Milligan 2 0 4, Jackson 1 0 2, Brennan 0 0 0, Burrell 2 0 6, Graves 0 0 0, Farrington 0 0 0, Haskell 10 4 29, McCoy 5 0 11, Herman 0 0 0, Totals 20 4 52.

MAPLE GROVE (45)

Tranum 6 1 14, Caskey 5 2 12, Grissom 0 2 2, Price 0 0 0, Tarbrake 0 0 0, Mansfield 3 0 8, Hill 3 0 6, Snow 1 1 3, Totals 18 6 45.

3-point goals – Burrell 2, Haskell 5, McCoy, Tranum, Mansfield 2.

Franklinville 9 17 16 10 — 52

Maple Grove 15 11 10 9 — 45

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