The New Franklin girls let a five-point lead slip away in the final minutes of the third quarter and couldn’t catch up in the final stanza as Central Activities opponent Cairo spoiled the Lady Bulldogs’ Homecoming on Friday night, 51-40.

It was New Franklin’s first loss to Cairo since defeating the Lady Bearcats by nine in the Glasgow Tournament early in the season. Before that, Cairo had won a long string of 13 straight games between the two teams dating back to 2017 as one of the area’s perennially staunch programs.

New Franklin struggled from the field, sinking just 31.1 percent from the field, as normally straightforward shots weren’t falling despite multiple offensive rebounds.

“I didn’t think we played that poorly for most of the game. We did a lot of things really well,” said New Franklin coach Parker Gross. “There are a couple of possessions we would like back where we turned it over. But, as far as the whole game goes, we did a really good job on the defensive part. We did a really good job offensively, getting a lot of looks. But we missed a lot.”

Both teams opened with slow starts, with Cairo taking a 10-7 lead after eight minutes. New Franklin tied the game twice in the second quarter, but each time Cairo answered, eventually pulling ahead 21-18 at halftime.

“They are a good athletic team, and they make it hard for you to guard,” Gross said. “I thought our kids worked really hard at it. We started off rebounding really well. We ran a couple of things that we wanted to early and got some good looks. And as the game went on, we just made fewer and fewer shots.”

The opening minutes of the third quarter seemed much the same, as Bearcats’ senior Chloe Brumley sank a 3-pointer half a minute into the second half. But 45 seconds later, New Franklin seized the momentum, taking a five-point lead, 31-26, on an 11-2 run.

But once again, Cairo had an answer, responding with seven straight points to end the quarter, sparked by another three from Brumley with 1:58 left in the period.

Cairo went on to win the final frame 18-9 as New Franklin mostly scored from the line in the last quarter. Cairo slowed the game down in the final half-quarter, combining methodically patient offense with tenacious defense.

“Basketball games tend to be a series of runs. Whoever goes on the last run is often times the team that gets to win the ball game. They made the run late,” Gross said. “They are a solid, athletic team. They guard well. And they have several girls who can shoot it. When they put you in a position to have to defend two different actions, you’re going to give something up. We didn’t rotate the way we needed to sometimes, and they made shots when they got opportunities. That was the difference in the game.”

Cairo was able to mostly take away the scoring threat of New Franklin senior Lily Chitwood, who, the game before, surpassed 2,000 career points and is the all-time leading scorer in school history. She scored just six points after entering the game scoring an average of 20.3 points a night.

Still, six Lady Bulldogs made their marks in the scorebook, led by 12 points from senior forward Skylar Shaw and eight points by sophomore Belle Chitwood. Senior Lydia Burnett and Canna Jennings each added five points, with four from junior Callie Chitwood.

“I don’t think there are any excuses for it. I think some nights you just don’t shoot well,” Gross said.

With the teams 1-1 against one another this season, they could face each other once again in the postseason if both win their respective district tournaments. But first, the teams have to finish off the regular season before entering district play on Feb. 23. The Bulldogs were scheduled to play four CAC games to end the regular season. The first was against Slater (9-12) on Tuesday after the Advertiser had gone to press. They travel to Sturgeon (5-14) on Friday before playing their final home game on Feb. 17 against Pilot Grove (3-18) on Pink Out Night. New Franklin ends the regular season with a rescheduled conference game at Glasgow on Feb. 19.

Class 1 District 9 seedings had not been determined as of this writing. This year’s tournament will be hosted by Jamestown.