A slow start and a lopsided second quarter cost the fourth-seeded New Franklin girls in the opening round of their own tournament on Saturday. The Lady Bulldogs fell to fifth-seeded and five-time tournament champs Community, 60-52.

The two teams met in the finals of this tournament a year ago, when Community won the low-scoring battle 30-25 to extend a long streak over New Franklin.

Community has now won 12 straight games over the Lady Bulldogs dating back to 2016. Five of those wins have come during the New Franklin Tournament.

For New Franklin coach Parker Gross, it was the first time at the helm of the Lady Bulldogs to face a team that has racked up 20 or more wins in eight of the last nine seasons. He feels the tradition of being the home team in a tournament stretching back nearly a century.

“We talked about it before the game. This is one of the longer-running tournaments you’ll see in the state of Missouri,” Gross said. “Having a lot of pride on your home court, you want to go out and battle the right way. It’s definitely a bummer to be on that side of the bracket.”

New Franklin opened the game flat and struggled to match the vigor of Community, which was evident as the Lady Trojans opened the first quarter with a 10-2 run over the first two minutes.

The Lady Bulldogs showed signs of life when sophomore Lydia Burnett sank a 3-point shot from the corner to cut the lead to five points. But Community senior Alyssa Beamer answered with a three on the other end to maintain some distance.

But despite trailing early, New Franklin inched back throughout the first quarter, finally cutting the score to just two points on a three-point play by Lily Chitwood. The sophomore point guard was fouled on a transition layup and sank the bonus free throw with 2.8 seconds left to end the first period down 20-18.

Community dialed up the hustle in the second quarter and took ownership of the paint in the absence of New Franklin‘s 5’10 forward Skylar Shaw. The sophomore spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, which opened the lane for the small but quick Lady Trojans.

Community extended the lead with another run early in the second quarter, this time for an eight-point disparity, until New Franklin sank another 3-pointer. Eads banked the triple with 4:58 left in the first half to keep the game within seven points.

“They had a little bit better intensity and energy getting after the ball and going for rebounds. I thought that killed us throughout the game, particularly when we were trying to claw back,” Gross said.

The Trojans went back up by 10 and maintained their double-digit lead to go into the break ahead 38-28.

The second quarter proved to be fatal for the Lady Bulldogs. Apart from those eight minutes, the two teams played to a tie, scoring 42 points each in the other three quarters.

The halftime rest must have done New Franklin some good, as the Lady Bulldogs came out with more energy in the first minutes of the third quarter. Chitwood sparked a short comeback with a transition layup 45 seconds in, and, a minute later, added a free throw. The home team then cut the lead to just five points on a post-up by Shaw to make the score 38-33.

But things settled back into Community’s rhythm for the remainder of the period, with the Lady Trojans holding their 10-point lead heading into the final stanza.

Community led by as much as 14 points early in the fourth. New Franklin chipped away and cut the lead to nine points on a 3-pointer by Chitwood with 2:20 left to play. Another long shot from Burnett brought New Franklin within seven points with 38 left to play as the Trojans struggled from the line.

The Lady Trojans made just three of 10 free-throw shots in the last 90 seconds, but their defense held off New Franklin to the final buzzer.

New Franklin outscored Community 14-12 in the final period but could not undo the damage from the second quarter.

“It felt like [we were still in the game] for a lot of it despite a few moments there,” Gross said. “I thought in the third and fourth quarters, they had a couple of runs that really hurt us. Those were maybe the difference makers.”

Chitwood led six New Franklin scorers with 18 points. She also pulled down six rebounds, made one steal, and dished out four assists. Burnett scored 14 points with seven rebounds and an assist.

All but two of Community’s 52 points were scored by three players. Senior Kylie Brooks led all scorers with 28 points. It was the most points scored by one player in four opening-round games. Peyton Beamer scored 12 points, followed by 10 from Alyssa Beamer.

New Franklin hoped for a rematch against Fayette in the championship semifinals after upsetting the Lady Falcons in the opening round of the Glasgow tournament a month prior. Fayette bounced back with a non-conference win to even the matchup at 1-1. But the tiebreaker will have to hold off until a potential matchup in the district tournament.

For now, the Lady Bulldogs are relegated to the consolation side of the bracket, where they will face eighth-seeded Bunceton/Prairie Home at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the old gym. 

“We’ll look to rebound in the next two games of the tournament and hopefully play with the right level of energy and intensity for four quarters,” Gross said.

BPH fell to Fayette 63-36 in the opener.

The winner of Wednesday’s game will have a chance to play for the consolation trophy at 7 p.m. on Friday.