THE CHAMPS...were the Lady Jets from Franklin Monroe.
SATURDAY NIGHT - Bill Burkett Tournament
Basketball at “The Battleground” was in full swing for a second night at the Bill Burkett Lady Patriots Tournament. By the end of the evening it appeared that Friday nights match-ups were the highlight of the tournament… in terms of competitive basketball. On this night both Tri-Village and Franklin Monroe would cruise to easy victories in their respective games as Tri-Village took home the consolation game over Ansonia 56-40 and Franklin Monroe earned the Title with a win over Arcanum 55-32.
In the consolation game Tri-Village raced out to a 9-0 lead on two scores by Kayla Linkous, a steal and a lay-up by Shaye Thomas and a three-ball by Kaila Burns prompting Ansonia to call a timeout to regroup. Ansonia was able to rebound slightly with their first score of the game and then trading baskets… but they couldn’t stop Linkous. She scored 8 more points for a total of 12 in the opening quarter to give TV a 19-7 lead.
In the second period it was all Tri-Village as the Tigers struggled against their full court press. Thomas again made a steal and was fouled on her lay-up attempt to start the quarter a knocked down her free throws. Kylie Thomas got in the scoring column with a bucket on the inside, followed by another Burns three-pointer and two fielders from Hillarie Frech. Meanwhile Tri-Village held Ansonia scoreless for six minutes of the second quarter to take a halftime lead of 31-11.
In the third frame the Patriots would hit on three treys, two from Burns and one from freshman Teha Richards. Richards would follow that up with a five footer to finish the scoring for Tri-Village in the third quarter as the Patriots built a 51-23 margin.
In the final stanza with TV controlling the game on defense Coach Brad Gray used much of his bench… with 13 varsity players there are a lot kids looking to get on the floor. The Patriots Hallie Mikesell knocked down 2 free throws and Bre Abney hit one along with a drive to the basket for a deuce to complete the scoring for Tri-Village on the night as they cruised to a an easy 56-40 consolation game win in their own Bill Burkett Tournament.
Tri-Village was led in scoring by Kayla Linkous with 18 for the second night in row. She tallied a tournament total of 36 points and was named to the All Tournament Team.
Kaila Burns also knocked down four treys for 12 points and was the only other Patriot player in double figures.
The Championship Game between Arcanum and Franklin Monroe would be much like the opening game on the night.
In the opening period the Jets slapped on a full court press that frustrated the Trojans as FM raced out to an 18-4 advantage. Tiffany Kossler and Monica Heckman would both net 6 points to pace the Jets in the frame.
In the second period the Jets relaxed just a bit and the Trojans took advantage to score 10 points in the quarter. But Arcanum had no answer for Brandy Fourman or Monica Heckman inside. Fourman dropped in 5 points and Heckman 4 points as the Jets held the 31-14 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was all Monica Heckman as the Jets continued to pound the ball inside and the Trojans couldn’t stop her in the post. Heckman threw in 9 points… but equally impressive was the rebounding she was doing at the same time. The Jets would end the third quarter with a 42-25 lead.
In the final stanza with the game all but in-hand FM would play their entire bench and go on to the Championship win by the score of 55-32.
Franklin Monroe was led by Heckman with 21 points on the night as equally as many rebounds.
The Bill Burkett MVP award would go to Monica Heckman and joining her on the All Tournament team were fellow teammates Sierra Bruner and Brandy Fourman. Also on the team were Amanda Falknor and Ashley Davis, rounding at the team was Kayla Linkous from Tri-Village.
FRIDAY NIGHT - Bill Burkett Tournament
Friday night was the opening round of the Lady Patriots Bill Burkett Basketball Tournament. The opening round game matched up the Arcanum Trojans against the Ansonia Tigers. It was obvious both teams were playing their first game and maybe even with jitters due to the nice crowd on hand. Both teams had difficulty generating any offense in the early going. In fact the first quarter ended with both teams tied 3-3.
In the second period both teams started to hit some shots as they battled to 17-17 halftime score.
The third quarter was all Arcanum as Amanda Falknor got the hot hand as the Trojans built an 8-point lead 31-23.
In the final stanza the Tigers started to pound it inside and found success behind Jennifer Gasper for 6 points the frame… but the lead Arcanum built held up for the win 42-36 and they move on to play in the Championship game.
Amanda Falknor poured in 18 points to lead the Trojans while Shelby Anderson chipped in 8 points in support. Jennifer Gasper led the Tigers with 11 points and Sarah Amspaugh dropped in 9 points in the loss.
The nightcap game matched up Tri-Village against Franklin Monroe. It was a game that featured up-tempo basketball and lots of scoring… but in the end it would be Franklin Monroe who would pull out the stops literally, to take the opening night game from Tri-Village 60-58 advancing to the championship round.
Tri-Village and Franklin Monroe opened the first quarter of play with an offensive display. Both teams got scoring from five different players from their respective teams. Brandy Fourman paced the Jets with 5 points in the frame while freshman Shaye Thomas matched it to lead the Patriots including a trey at the buzzer to tie the score 14-14.
In the second quarter the offensive output by both teams would be even greater… in part to an up tempo style by both teams and a lack of good defense. Franklin Monroe erupted for 23 second quarter points while Tri-Village tried to keep pace scoring 18 but trailed at the half 37-32.
Sierra Bruner opened the second half with two straight fielders to give Franklin Monroe a 41-32 lead their largest on the night thus far. Kaila Burns answered with a three-pointer to get the Patriots rolling and slowly they started to whittle away at the Jet lead. In the last two minutes of the third period Hillarie Frech hit a jumper followed by a steal and a basket by Shaye Thomas. Thomas struck again with a short jumper followed up by an old fashioned three-pointer from Kayla Linkous to end the period down by just two points 48-46.
In the final stanza it was more of the same with the Jets doing just enough to keep control of the game. Trailing 57-50 The Patriots again fought back. It started with Hillarie Frech short jumper sandwiched in between to free throws by KJ and an inside fielder that pulled TV to within a point 57-56 with 1:28 to play. But on FM's next possession the PATS had a defensive breakdown that left a wide-open Monica Heckman under the basket for an easy deuce to go up 59-56 with 26 seconds. It was Frech who would strike again from the short corner with 7 seconds to make the score 59-58 and an outside chance to pull out win. But in the end it was the defensive stand by the Jets that would hold off the hard charging Patriots and escape with the 60-58 win.
The Patriots were led in scoring by Kayla Linkous with 18 despite being double and tripled team all night. Freshman Shaye Thomas netted 13 in an impressive debut while running the point with Hillarie Frech reaching double figures with 10 points on the night.
Franklin Monroe also put 3 players in double figures and was led by Sierra Bruner with 18, Brandy Fourman netted 14 and Monica Heckman contributed 12 for the winning team.
Score by quarters:
Franklin Monroe….14…23…11…12 - 60
Tri-Village………..14…18…14…12 - 58
Franklin Monroe
Tiffany Kossler 2-0-0/0 - 6
Sierra Bruner 1-5-5/6 - 18
Taylor Howell 2-0-0/0 - 6
Brandy Fourman 0-5-4/7 - 14
Ashley Pal 0-2-0/0 - 4
Monica Heckman 0-6-0/0 - 12
Totals 5-18-9/13 - 60
