FAYETTEVILLE -- Jasmine Franklin did a little bit of everything Tuesday night.
The senior forward and Missouri State signee had an effective hand in both ends of the floor in Fayetteville's 51-30 win against Mountain Home. Franklin scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and came away with five steals, helping the Lady Bulldogs grab their second win of the young season.
Girls
Fayetteville 51, Mountain Home 30
Mountain Home^6^9^5^10^–^30
Fayetteville^9^12^11^19^–^51
Mountain Home (0-1): Pfeifer 13, Huskey 6, Foreman 4, Jackson 3, Pinn 2, E. Martin 2.
Fayetteville (2-0): Beck 15, Franklin 12, Goforth 11, Webb 5, Bobbitt 3, Templeton 3, Unruh 2.
Franklin was active recognizing screens -- a focal point leading up to the game -- in Mountain Home's pick-and-roll offense. And as a whole, coach Vic Rimmer came away pleased with the effort away from the ball as well.
"I told the kids that's the one thing that stood out to me as a glaring positive for us," he said. "Jasmine did a great job hedging and did a very good job on the ball, but I thought we did an excellent job behind it rotating and taking away their option to roll. She's very active, and we like her on that because she's so long."
In total, Fayetteville finished with 11 steals and six blocks unofficially. Following a sluggish start offensively (3 of 11 from the floor), the team's defense provided a spark and led to the runaway win. As the pressure picked up, the Lady Bombers turned the ball over and forced shots. Mountain Home shot 7-of-19 from the 3-point line, and senior guard Hannah Pfeifer was held to 3-of-10 from distance.
Franklin scored eight of her 12 points over the final two quarters and sophomore guard Coriah Beck scored a team-high 15, 11 after the break. Sasha Goforth, who saw a number of early shots rim out, added 11 more, including a near halfcourt 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first half.
The trio has combined to score 80 of the team's 98 points in the early going, a trend Franklin believes can continue and one that Rimmer said the team needs moving forward.
"Between the three of us someone is going to be hot," Franklin said. "If it's not me it's going to be Coriah, if it's not Coriah it'll be Sasha. And if we're all three hot it's going to be crazy. I think we'll carry it on and someone's going to take the lead. I think it'll work out."
Losing a handful of talented guards as Fayetteville did to graduation from its state title team, plus another player transferring out gives this team a little different look, but Rimmer is hoping to develop depth in order to play at the pace they have become accustomed to in recent years.
"We're trying to find out what those rotations are going to be. We play better at a faster pace," Rimmer said. "Our sustainability at that pace I'm a little concerned about because we're trying to find depth. When we find some depth I think we can increase the pace."
Pfeifer led Mountain Home with 13 points and was the only Lady Bomber to reach double figures.
Fayetteville now has three weeks to prepare for the Bulldog Classic (Dec.7-9) which features Mountain Home, Little Rock Central, North Little Rock and Jonesboro in a deep field.
Sports on 11/15/2017