The Triton Central holiday tournament didn't turn out exactly the way coach Kyle Van Meter and his Lady Wildcats had planned. With three losses in two days Dec. 28-29, Franklin County finished in 8th place among the eight participating schools.

Tuesday produced a 43-34 loss to the host Tigers, followed by a 45-39 overtime loss to Northeastern. On Wednesday, FC was controlled by the consolidated Elkhart High School Lions, 49-27.

Sophomore Nicole Mears led FC in the opener with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Senior Jenna Bruns added 7 points and 6 boards. Senior Olivia Faust led Triton with 17 points and Maddy Brown added 11 for the winning Tigers.

The NE game was about as even as games go. The Wildcats were up 9-5 after one quarter and still led 19-18 by intermission. An 11-8 third quarter by the Lady Knights had the Wayne County school up 29-27 with one period left. FC outscored its foe 12-10 over the next eight minutes to force an overtime stanza. The Cats could not find the net in extras as Northeastern made a 39-39 score after regulation a six-point final.

Mears scored a dozen (3 blocks) while juniors Josie Rolfes and Kassidy Schell each scored 7. Senior Alex Gillman grabbed 8 caroms. Sophomore Addisen Mastriano paced NE with 19 points, including a three in overtime.

Elkhart was up 25-19 after one half of play and had pulled ahead 38-27 by the end of three. FC had another zero on the scoresheet in the final quarter, leading to the 22-point setback. No Wildcat reached double digits, Kiersten Schell topping out at 9 points while adding 3 assists and 6 steals. Mears and senior Saige Mergenthal each collected 5 rebounds. Senior De'mour Watson led the Lions with 21 points and freshman Danica Barnes put in 14.

FC (8-9) has a remaining schedule of five Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference games in 21 days, starting with Tuesday's home matchup with Rushville (result not available at press time). The girls are at Greensburg Saturday night.