Despite not playing a game for 17 days, the top-seeded New Franklin girls cruised through the opening round of their own tournament on Monday night, defeating eighth-seeded Christian Fellowship 60-28 to advance to the championship side of the bracket.

The Lady Bulldogs are now 9-1 overall and are receiving votes in Class 1 in the latest statewide poll by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.

“I’m looking forward to the girls getting back and competing. We had 17 days off, so you never know how you’re going to play,” said coach Parker Gross.

Any rust from the time off was not evident as New Franklin jumped out to an 11-point lead midway through the first quarter and allowed only seven points in the first half, six of which came in the opening period.

The Bulldogs led 21-6 after eight minutes and went into halftime ahead 41-7 with six players contributing to the scorebook in the two quarters.

“I thought we came out really disciplined at the offensive end and played team basketball,” Gross said. “It’s fun to watch when the basketball is moving around, and different people are getting shots. And it’s really nice when those shots go in. We shot the ball well tonight.”

A lot of New Franklin’s good shooting came from the perimeter. The Bulldogs banked eight threes on the night, four of which came in a 3-point shootout in the third quarter. Christian Fellowship was also solid from the arc, sinking three of its seven 3-point shots in the third period.

The Bulldogs finished the night with seven scorers, led by senior Lily Chitwood’s 20 points and 14 from senior Lydia Burnett, who led the team in threes with four baskets from the arc. Sophomore Belle Chitwood added nine points with a pair of 3-point buckets. Senior Skylar Shaw went 3-for-4 from the line to finish with seven points. Senior Canna Jennings added six points from the paint with two each from sophomore Karina Chitwood and freshman Kallie Burnett.

“We have four or five girls who can score in double digits any given night. It’s nice when the basketball moves like that because lots of people get opportunities. We just want to play team basketball and shoot it when it’s open,” Gross said.

New Franklin is now one game away from the tournament finals. The Bulldogs take on fourth-seeded Community tonight (Wednesday) in the championship semifinals. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. in the new gym.

The Lady Trojans defeated fifth-seeded Brunswick 45-37 in Monday’s nightcap to advance. Senior Jocelyn Curtis led Community with 13 points.

“It won’t be an easy game. We will have to play focused and compete how we are supposed to,” Gross said. “We want to keep that momentum going. We started shooting the ball really well the last three or four games. We want to continue that throughout this week, and as we start into our heavy conference season next week.”

The winner of tonight’s semifinal will advance to the championship at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.