MORAN — It took the West Franklin High Falcons one quarter to figure out what they needed to do to shut down the Marmaon Valley High girls offense, then they took the ball and ran with it.
Marmaton Valley lost its final regular season game 47-19 to the Falcons Thursday evening.
“They kept switching things up on us,” head coach Gavin Cole said. “We never really got into our offense.”
The Wildcats held close in the first, mainly with free throws. In fact, that was the majority of the Wildcat offense for the first three quarters.
Kaitlin Ensminger and Misty Storrer contributed some charities to keep close to the Falcons, 14-6, going into the second. Then the Falcons slammed the Wildcats with a 16-2 run, going up 28-7 at the half.
Storrer had the first field goal for the Wildcats at the 3-minute mark of the third quarter — the first in just under 20 minutes of play. She followed with another, then Kyla Drake got one in as well.
None of the offense for the Wildcats held a candle to the top players for West Franklin. Bailey Wittington and Macy Flory dominated down low for the Falcons, using their height to advantage in the paint. They scored 12 and 16, respectively.
As for the Wildcats, they had six field goals for the game. Ensminger led with seven points, followed by Storrer and Drake with six apiece — they were the only scorers on the night.
“I wish we could’ve done better for our seniors,” Cole said following the game. Thursday evening was senior night for Marmaton Valley. Regardless, he had nothing but high remarks for the three seniors — Ensminger, Emily Meiwes and Lauren Korte.
“They are all good leaders,” he said.
The Wildcats face Southern Coffey County in Waverly on Monday to open Class 1A-I substate first round play.
West Franklin 14-14-11-8—47
Marmaton Valley 6-1-8-4—19
West Franklin (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Reed 0-0-1-0, Morrison 1-0-1-2, Steele 2-0-2-4, Ba. Shaffer 3-0-0-6, Ecord 1-0-02, Wittington 6-0-1-12, Br. Shaffer 0-1-0-1, Flory 8-0-2-16, Yelland 1-0-0-2, Ryan 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 23-1-8-42.
Marmaton Valley (FG/3pt-FT-F-TP): Ensminger 2-3-0-7, Pinkerton 0-0-1-0, Storrer 2-2-1-6, Drake 2-2-1-6, Meiwes 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 6-7-5-19.
