Franklin Regional girls basketball preparing for challenging schedule to start new year

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 21, 2018 | 9:48 PM

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The Franklin Regional girls basketball team took the first step to what it hopes is a return to the WPIAL playoffs with its 61-49 victory Dec. 18 over rival Plum.

The Section 2-5A triumph was an important one also for the fact that it came just days after a tough section-opening loss to defending WPIAL champion Gateway.

“We’ve shown we can do something this year,” senior forward Jordan Yaniga said. “We have the ability. We just have to come ready to play each game.”

The Panthers (4-2, 1-1) begin the new year with a stern section test in defending state champion Mars on Jan. 3.

The Planets established themselves in the section race by doubling up Kiski Area on Dec. 13 and defeating Gateway by 12 four days later.

“We play two pretty tough teams in Peters Township and Vincentian at the Hempfield tournament (Dec. 28 and 29),” Franklin Regional coach Anthony Kobus said. “Hopefully, that gets us ready for January and the grind of the section schedule. We have Mars right off the bat. It’s at Mars, and it will be a tough one.”

Kobus pointed to the team’s 42-32 win at Butler on Dec. 11 as another confidence builder in its early-season foundation.

Yaniga and senior guard Cali Konek led the team against the Golden Tornado with 16 and 14 points, respectively.

“They are digging deep down inside,” Kobus said. “They got down to Butler early, and they spotted Plum an early lead. It’s great to see the girls accomplish things with the hard work they put in.”

Plum and Franklin Regional battled with Kiski Area last year for the fourth and final WPIAL playoff spot from the section.

The Panthers were in the mix until the final week of the section slate, and despite facing adversity with a five-game losing streak to close section play, it took a 46-36 loss to the Mustangs in the section finale to eliminate them.

Plum wasted no time in establishing a lead in the section clash Dec. 18 as Kennedie Montue scored on a layup just four seconds into the game. Kelsie Zik followed with a 3-pointer 20 seconds later, and the Mustangs had a quick 5-0 advantage.

But Franklin Regional used a run of its own to take the lead at 6-5, and the Panthers would not relinquish it the rest of the way.

“We stuck together, ran our plays well, and got a good team win,” Yaniga said. “We knew we could do it. We just had to believe in ourselves.”

Franklin Regional built a 12-point lead at the end of the third quarter. Plum made a run to reduce the margin to five with three minutes to go, but the Panthers held strong down the stretch.

“We were able to keep our poise even though we had some foul trouble, and Plum was doing what they could to get back in the game,” Yaniga said.

Yaniga scored a game-high 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds. She made several key plays in the second half when she tallied 13 points. Of her seven points in the fourth quarter, five came from the foul line on 5 of 6 shooting.

“There was some anxiousness to see how we were going to respond (from the Gateway loss),” Kobus said. “We had two good days of practice to prepare for Plum. The girls had great attitudes. They come in to work every day eager to learn and get better.”

Senior forward Alex Reitz came back after missing the Gateway game because of injury and added 12 points and 12 rebounds. She tallied eight of her 12 points in the first quarter as Franklin Regional began to set the tone.

Konek also finished with 12 points as she scored nine of the 12 in the final quarter.

“This was a chance to get back at Plum for last year,” Yaniga said. “This was a really big win for us.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Franklin Regional