Girls’ basketball: Franklin County upsets No. 1 Elizabethtown

Don’t count out Franklin County come March.

That’s the impression the No. 6 Flyers left after rallying from a double-digit deficit to defeat No. 1 Elizabethtown 56-52 at home on Friday night.

The Flyers extended their current win streak to eight games, their last loss coming at No. 4 Mercer County on Jan. 14. They avenged a 30-point drubbing at Elizabethtown nearly a year to the date, and did so despite Miss Basketball contender Erin Boley dropping 31 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the Panthers.

For Princess Stewart, who had 16 points and seven rebounds, it meant a lot to finally get past the E-town hurdle and to do so in the fashion they did.

“We’ve been trying to beat Etown for a long time. … We were ready all day. We’d had three days to prepare and it was worth it,” Stewart said.

Trailing by 11 points after one quarter, Franklin County flipped the script with a 17-7 second period to get within a point at halftime. It took its first lead on a putback by Anna Arrastia with 5:35 to play in the third.

“To get off the mat and keep playing showed some maturity on our kids’ part,” Flyers Coach Joey Thacker said. “Because it’s not always been that way (when) we’ve played ’em.”

Rebecca Cook, who also had 16 points, scored eight points during a 12-3 flurry that pushed Franklin County back into the contest before the break. She was a little worried after the Flyers’ sluggish start but knew they could rally if they could make some shots to set up their press.

The junior felt compelled to ignite Franklin County in the second quarter.

“I knew that a lot of my teammates were being passive so I just decided to take it to the basket and hope for the best,” Cook said with a laugh. “ … I think this can really be a turning point in how our season finishes up if we keep playing how tonight went.”

Franklin County is 21-3 with its only other in-state loss coming against No. 16 Ryle on Jan. 7. Elizabethtown dropped to 22-4 with just its second loss to a Kentucky foe; the first was to No. 7 Mercy in the Louisville Invitational on Jan. 29.

Boley, a Notre Dame signee who this week was named a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy, did her fair share of damage right out of the gate as she scored 12 in the first quarter. Thacker called her the best player he’s ever coached against.

“We knew we had to stop Erin or at least stop her a little more than she’s ever been stopped,” said Malaka Frank, who had two blocks and a steal to go along with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Nine of Boley’s 31 came in the final period, the last three on a shot near the top of the key. That put Elizabethtown up 52-51 with 1:32 left. Fifteen seconds later, Frank, a Western Kentucky signee, responded with a drive through the lane to put Franklin back ahead for good.

Cook and Stewart went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line down the stretch to put the game away for Franklin County after E-town failed to get off a clean shot in the final minute.

Note: The original text of this article incorrectly credited a drive by Rebecca Cook as the basket that gave Franklin County its first lead of the game. Anna Arrastia gave Franklin County its first lead on a putback. The article also incorrectly listed Cook as a senior. She is a junior.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Girls’ basketball: Franklin County upsets No. 1 Elizabethtown."