SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Lutheran St. Charles freshman Kyrii Frankiln knew somebody had to step up.
With dynamic scorer Jordan Speiser neutralized by a Carl Junction defensive scheme that limited her touches of the ball, and senior Megan Aulbert embattled in a struggle with an elite post defender, Franklin realized the offense had to come from somewhere else.
“We were not scoring, so I thought, ‘I guess I’m going to have to drive,’” Franklin said.
Franklin went on a personal 10-0 run midway through the third quarter to reverse a seven-point deficit, and the Cougars never trailed again as Lutheran St. Charles defeated Carl Junction 44-39 to win the Class 5 Missouri girls basketball championship at the Show-Me-Showdown in Springfield.
Lutheran St. Charles (27-5) won its first state title since capturing the Class 3 crown in 2013.
Franklin dropped in her only 10 points of the game in a scoring blitz that lasted the final 3 minutes 23 seconds of the third quarter.
Lutheran St. Charles trailed 25-18 when Franklin started the flurry with a putback of a missed shot, one of five offensive rebounds in the game for the 5-foot-4 guard.
On the next offensive possession, Franklin swished a corner-3.
Then, after sophomore guard Chloe Reed was trapped near the baseline, Franklin made a perfectly-timed cut through the lane and Reed spotted her for a layup.
On the ensuing defensive possession, Franklin’s ball pressure forced a five-second violation.
“She knocks down a 3, makes a great basket cut, plays great defense, steals an extra possession, you could just feel the momentum building when those things were happening,” Lutheran St. Charles coach Erin Luttschwager said.
Then, the ball started to find Franklin.
After a volleyball match broke out on the offensive glass, the ball ricocheted to Franklin, who knocked down the open jumper. Finally, after scrapping for a defensive rebound, she cruised coast-to-coast with seven seconds remaining in the quarter to put Lutheran St. Charles ahead 28-25 heading into the fourth.
“The kid’s a playmaker. We all know what she is capable of. She was on a big stage in a big moment, and she just needed to relax and be herself,” Luttschwager said.
Franklin’s scoring binge was a precursor for big shots made by other secondary scorers in the Cougars lineup down the stretch.
With under two minutes to play and Lutheran St. Charles clinging to a three-point lead, Reed drilled a deep, left-wing triple. It brought out a scream of emotion from Reed and was a thrilling sight for the Cougars, who had misfired on 16 of 18 threes prior to Reed’s make.
“I was open at the three, and I knew before I got the ball, I was going to shoot it,” Reed said.
She added, “I was excited.”
Carl Junction (30-2) was excited to still have the services of prolific scorer Destiny Buerge, who had committed her fourth foul with 4:46 remaining in the third quarter. Coach Brad Shorter planned to keep Buerge on the bench longer after she picked up her fourth, but senior Klohe Burk spoke up during a third quarter timeout.
“Khloe came to me and said, ‘Hey, we need Destiny out here. You have to roll the dice.’ And she was exactly right,” Shorter said.
With timely substitutions, Shorter kept Buerge away from defensive possessions as much as possible, and Buerge rewarded her team on the offensive end. She scored seven points in the fourth quarter and added two assists as the offense flowed through the 5-foot-8 senior.
“She got some buckets, and she opened up things for other kids,” Shorter said of Buerge, who led all scorers with 18 points in just 19 minutes.
A short jumper by Buerge tied the game at 39-39 with 45 seconds remaining.
But as Carl Junction tried to organize full court pressure, Lutheran St. Charles passed the ball upcourt, where Speiser found a streaking Kennedy Stowers for the go-ahead layup.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking, but we knew we had to get (the lead) back and that’s what we did,” said Speiser, who was held to six points, but added three key assists in the second half.
Moments later, as Buerge quickly dribbled up the floor to answer, she was called for an offensive foul for a push-off 45-feet from the basket.
“You just hate to not have that last chance,” Shorter said. “I’ve seen her hit that shot a number of times, coming down the floor in the middle, and gosh, that’s a tough one to swallow.”
Reed and Aulbert knocked down three of four free throws in the closing 10 seconds to clinch the state title for Lutheran St. Charles.
“I’m just so proud of our kids for continuing to fight,” Luttschwager said.
Throughout the first half, Aulbert jockeyed for position in the lane with Carl Junction junior Kylie Scott. Aulbert finished the game with 11 points, 14 rebounds and five assists and did not allow Scott to dominate the interior like the 6-foot-3 Bulldogs’ forward did in a semifinal victory over Cape Notre Dame.
“I wanted to get out on the three, and then not let her drive and spin on me. And once she shot, block out and not let her get a bunch of offensive boards,” said Aulbert, who will continue her playing career at Tennessee Tech.
Helped by the strong interior play from Aulbert, Lutheran St. Charles was able to stay within striking distance despite going 8-for-31 (25.8 percent) through the first two-and-a-half quarters.
And until the personal 10-0 run by Franklin put the Cougars in the driver’s seat.
“Championships are not easy, they’re not supposed to be easy, and we certainly did not have our best game offensively, but we made the plays down the stretch – the hustle plays, the rebounds – to go get the win,” Luttschwager said.