Cougars scratch Wildcats on senior night
February 15, 2023 at 6:00 p.m.
Franklin County's boys had one of their toughest senior night opponents in recent memory Friday night as the once-beaten Greenfield-Central Cougars paid a visit to Brookville. A top-15 team in the state, GC built an insurmountable 30-3 lead in the first half and coasted to a 57-25 victory to hand the Wildcats their eighth consecutive loss.
Playing without top senior Brant Ertel, the Cats had a devilish time finding the hoop in the first 14 minutes of the contest. Senior Landen Wuestefeld finally gave the near-capacity crowd a thrill with a 3-pointer at the 6:23 mark of the second period – not before the Cougs had reeled off 16 points for openers.
Late in the half, senior Brady Morehead scored twice with an assist from Wuestefeld. Junior Eli Butt's drive with a fraction of a second left made it a 33-9 game at intermission. The third quarter saw FC add seven tallies, with nine coming in the last stanza.
On their special night, coach Mark Foster inserted Morehead, Tanner Weartz and Xander Rodriguez into his starting lineup. Neither side could deliver a point until there was 4:39 left in the first. Dylan Moles did the honors with a successful drive. The next two buckets (three and a two) were courtesy of sophomore Braylon Mullins, a Cougar on Indiana head coach Mike Woodson's radar.
A fluid game saw the first foul called with under two minutes left. Seconds later, Mullins unleashed a deep triple from the top of the key. Moles went in from the left side late in the quarter to put GC up 12-0 at the first stop.
In the opening minute of period two, the Cougars went up 14 (Moles in transition) and committed their first foul. A reverse layup for Owen Anderson made it 16-0, with Wuestefeld answering. The visitors then went on a commanding 14-0 run with five different Cougars scoring. After back-to-back treys by Tyler Kerkhof and Anderson and a fast-break bucket from Mullins, Foster called timeout at 3:57 of the half. Morehead later scored on a stickback, quickly answered by Will DeJarnett's dribble drive.
DeJarnett scored first when second-half play began. He couldn't complete the 3-point play, but teammate Braden Robertson did soon after, leading to a 38-9 game. Mullins came up lame on a rebound scramble and would not return to action. His mates picked him up as Moles and DeJarnett notched lay-ins to make it a 33-point spread.
Senior Jace Lee scored for the Cats and sophomore Quinn Gillman took his cue to get two more. Anderson and Robertson makes led to a deep three for Wuestefeld after the Cougars had forced a running clock at 48-13.
Anderson and Wuestefeld swapped three balls as the fourth quarter got underway, then Moles and Wuestefeld traded bunnies. Lee and Rodriguez finished the evening's scoring.
Wuestefeld led FC with 11 points, followed by four apiece for Morehead and Lee and two each by Gillman, Butt and XRod. Anderson and DeJarnett put in a dozen each for GC, with Mullins' 10 all coming in the first half.
FC improved to 9-11 with Saturday's 52-31 win at Victory College Prep of Indianapolis. It was the Cats' first win since Jan. 6 against Union County. Lee led FC with 13 points.
Friday is the annual Beat Cancer in 4 Quarters game against conference rival Connersville, FC playing host this time. The Wildcats are the last EIAC team to beat the Spartans in regular season competition, that coming in February 2020.
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Franklin County's boys had one of their toughest senior night opponents in recent memory Friday night as the once-beaten Greenfield-Central Cougars paid a visit to Brookville. A top-15 team in the state, GC built an insurmountable 30-3 lead in the first half and coasted to a 57-25 victory to hand the Wildcats their eighth consecutive loss.
Playing without top senior Brant Ertel, the Cats had a devilish time finding the hoop in the first 14 minutes of the contest. Senior Landen Wuestefeld finally gave the near-capacity crowd a thrill with a 3-pointer at the 6:23 mark of the second period – not before the Cougs had reeled off 16 points for openers.
Late in the half, senior Brady Morehead scored twice with an assist from Wuestefeld. Junior Eli Butt's drive with a fraction of a second left made it a 33-9 game at intermission. The third quarter saw FC add seven tallies, with nine coming in the last stanza.
On their special night, coach Mark Foster inserted Morehead, Tanner Weartz and Xander Rodriguez into his starting lineup. Neither side could deliver a point until there was 4:39 left in the first. Dylan Moles did the honors with a successful drive. The next two buckets (three and a two) were courtesy of sophomore Braylon Mullins, a Cougar on Indiana head coach Mike Woodson's radar.
A fluid game saw the first foul called with under two minutes left. Seconds later, Mullins unleashed a deep triple from the top of the key. Moles went in from the left side late in the quarter to put GC up 12-0 at the first stop.
In the opening minute of period two, the Cougars went up 14 (Moles in transition) and committed their first foul. A reverse layup for Owen Anderson made it 16-0, with Wuestefeld answering. The visitors then went on a commanding 14-0 run with five different Cougars scoring. After back-to-back treys by Tyler Kerkhof and Anderson and a fast-break bucket from Mullins, Foster called timeout at 3:57 of the half. Morehead later scored on a stickback, quickly answered by Will DeJarnett's dribble drive.
DeJarnett scored first when second-half play began. He couldn't complete the 3-point play, but teammate Braden Robertson did soon after, leading to a 38-9 game. Mullins came up lame on a rebound scramble and would not return to action. His mates picked him up as Moles and DeJarnett notched lay-ins to make it a 33-point spread.
Senior Jace Lee scored for the Cats and sophomore Quinn Gillman took his cue to get two more. Anderson and Robertson makes led to a deep three for Wuestefeld after the Cougars had forced a running clock at 48-13.
Anderson and Wuestefeld swapped three balls as the fourth quarter got underway, then Moles and Wuestefeld traded bunnies. Lee and Rodriguez finished the evening's scoring.
Wuestefeld led FC with 11 points, followed by four apiece for Morehead and Lee and two each by Gillman, Butt and XRod. Anderson and DeJarnett put in a dozen each for GC, with Mullins' 10 all coming in the first half.
FC improved to 9-11 with Saturday's 52-31 win at Victory College Prep of Indianapolis. It was the Cats' first win since Jan. 6 against Union County. Lee led FC with 13 points.
Friday is the annual Beat Cancer in 4 Quarters game against conference rival Connersville, FC playing host this time. The Wildcats are the last EIAC team to beat the Spartans in regular season competition, that coming in February 2020.