The New Franklin girls won their first district championship in six years on Saturday with an upset over first-seeded Salisbury 59-52 for the Class 2 District 7 title.

For New Franklin coach Morgan Grosse, the win holds significance beyond just thrill of a district title. Salisbury is her hometown, and this season marks the only two times she has led her team past the rival Lady Panthers since becoming head coach. Before this year, New Franklin had not beaten Salisbury since 2016. This season, the Lady Bulldogs have won two out of three matchups.

“Obviously, being my hometown, for me, it’s personally awesome,” Grosse said moments after the game. “That’s only the second time we’ve beaten them, And the two times have been this year. That’s definitely a bragging point.”

The win means that New Franklin (now 20-8) extends its season past the district tournament for the first time since 2017.

“It’s very, very exciting,” Grosse said. “I told them I’m tired of talking about the team from seven years ago. Let this be the team that we talk about for the next seven years. It’s been a long time coming.”

Late in the game, it seemed like the result would end up in Salisbury’s favor. After tying the score at 42-42 with four points in the first minute of the fourth quarter, New Franklin soon found itself trailing by five with just under three minutes left to play. That’s when freshman phenom Lily Chitwood turned it up to 11. After a quick bucket to close the gap to three, she turned a steal into a layup with 91 ticks on the clock to bring her team within one point. Eight seconds later, she swished her third 3-pointer of the day to put the Lady Bulldogs in front 54-52.

“Those were big-time plays from a big-time kid,” Grosse said. “I have been waiting a long time to have her here. I knew she would make a difference as far as ball handling and the ability to score. That was a big-time shot from her.”

Following a Salisbury turnover, Grosse called a timeout with 47 seconds left and a two-point lead.

“We were just trying to keep the time and score in place,” she explained. “We did not want to give up any and-ones. Game, place, and scenario were the big thing.”

Immediately coming out of the time out, senior Carly Dorson made it a two-possession game with a bucket off the inbound pass.

Two missed free throws by Salisbury junior Emersyn Hammons with 14 seconds left preserved New Franklin’s lead. Chitwood would add three more points to the Lady Bulldogs’ tally in the final 27 seconds. First, she made the front end of a one-and-one situation at the line. Then, with the seconds ticking down, she tossed the ball up at the buzzer for one final basket.

Chitwood finished with a game-high 24 points with three 3-point shots. Thirteen of those points came in the fourth quarter.

Grosse values her freshman point guard much more than just a consistent scorer.

“I call her the question master,” Grosse said. “She’s always thinking of something. Her head’s always in the time and place and what we need to do.

“She just has that competitive drive and that leadership role. And the ability to score and defend, for that matter. She’s played big minutes, and the ball-handling part is huge. People really take that for granted.”

New Franklin held Salisbury scoreless for nearly three minutes at the end of the game. The Lady Panthers’ final points came from a pair of free throws by sophomore Julia Sloan with 2:55 left. They missed three more free throws in the last two and a half minutes.

“I knew we still had an opportunity, and once they went back to that man-to-man defense, I knew that we had the ability to score off the bounce,” Grosse said about the end of the game.”

New Franklin senior Carly Dorson added 14 points, nine of which came in the second half.

The Lady Bulldogs also benefited from a strong supporting performance by Brynn Belstle. The sophomore made two crucial 3-point shots in the second and fourth quarters when her team needed a spark and finished with eight points on the day.

Grosse said that a pivotal 3-pointer in overtime against Harrisburg in the semifinals gave Belstle the confidence she needed after missing several games this season with an injury.

 “Early on in the season, she was hitting a lot, and then with the injuries and things like that, she didn’t have some games in the middle,” Grosse said. “I think she’s back to playing like she was at the beginning.”

After taking an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter on Chitwood’s first 3-pointer of the day, New Franklin lost the next two quarters by a total of five points combined. Salisbury won a back-and-forth second quarter 17-14 after 10 lead changes and two ties. Sloan knocked down a basket with 24 seconds left in the first half to break a tie and give the Lady Panthers a 27-25 lead at halftime.

New Franklin managed to tie the game four times in the third quarter, but Salisbury also found a way to hold fend off any chances to retake the lead, spurred by the presence of 6’0 freshman Joslynn Brown under the basket. She scored six of her team-high 18 points in the third quarter to keep her team in front. Four of those points came in the final two minutes to give the Lady Panthers a 42-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

But Chitwood answered with four points in the opening minute of the final quarter to tie the game with 7:03 left to play. She then erased a five-point Salisbury lead late in the game to put New Franklin up for good.

“It’s well deserving,” Gross said about her team’s comeback. “To have the poise to be down and stick with it and still come back. I’d like to say that we’ve been in those spots so many times that we are comfortable in those situations. I don’t think they have time to panic or think about it. They just keep playing.”

New Franklin now faces the daunting task of playing against District 8 champion Tipton, the No. 2-ranked team in the state for Class 2 teams. The Cardinals hold a 27-1 record heading into the sectional round, having defeated Class 6 Hickman and Class 5 Jefferson in the regular season. Their only loss came at the hands of top-ranked Bishop LeBlond by three points on January 21.

Tipton cruised through district play, outscoring their opponents 172-47 in two games, never along more than 24 points.

“Getting to this game is a bonus,” Grosse said. “Everything after is just a fun ride, win or lose.”

New Franklin will tip off against Tipton at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28, at Jefferson City High School. The winner will advance to the state quarterfinals on March 4 at Moberly Area Community College.