TURNERS FALLS — One more win and the Franklin Tech girls basketball team will find itself in unchartered waters.
The program has never won a postseason tournament title before, but that could all change with one more victory following Thursday’s convincing 52-31 win over Lynn Vocational Technical Institute in the semifinal round of the Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association Small School Tournament.
The top-seeded Eagles (18-3) advanced to the title game, where they will host No. 3 Old Colony tonight at 5:30 p.m. back in the Powertown.
Franklin Tech, which still has something left to play for in the MIAA Tournament as the club will learn its seed and first-round opponent in the Western Mass. Division 4 bracket on Saturday, has never won the vocational tournament in girls basketball.
“It’s unique being a vocational school and having the opportunity to play in the vocational tournament as well as the MIAA tournament,” said Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache. “A lot of teams are going to be sitting around these next few days, and we have an opportunity to work on some things against tournament-caliber competition. We’re doing stuff that regardless of the outcome, we can’t really replicate in practice.”
In Thursday’s semifinal win over the fourth-seeded Tigers (10-11), Franklin Tech imposed its will and style of play from jump street. As they have all season, the Eagles utilized an up-tempo, full-court press that turned Lynn Tech over time and time again. The hosts led 10-5 after one quarter, as the Tigers struggled to get the ball over midcourt for much of the opening 16 minutes.
“It’s the way we’ve been playing all year,” began Gamache. “Defensively, we press a lot. We like to play uptempo. We try to create offense through turnovers. Not a lot of girls’ programs tend to play that type of basketball. It’s worked out pretty well for us and the girls have really bought into it.”
Jordan Hurlbert carried the offensive load in the second quarter. The senior forward scored all eight of her points in the period, helping Franklin Tech soar to a 21-11 halftime advantage.
As has been the case all season, the Eagles shared the wealth offensively. The team’s top five scorers all had times where they took over, and the quintet all scored between six and 14 points in the win. Gemanaia Cruz led the way with 14 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Jocelyn Crowningshield’s 12 points, five steals and five assists. Isabelle Duga and Hurlbert each scored eight points, and Desiree Doane tossed in six points to go with four steals. Emily Ryan grabbed five rebounds to go with three points.
“We preach to play unselfishly, try and spread the floor and get everyone involved,” Gamache said. “When they’re all scoring, they’re all feeling good about themselves. We’ve had different leading scorers almost every game throughout the season and that’s a testament to the kids.”
Lynn Tech cut the deficit down to single digits on two occasions in the second half, led by the play of senior center Alondra Sanchez (14 points). She scored four straight points early in the fourth quarter to pull the Tigers within 34-24, but Franklin Tech had an answer. A quick 8-0 burst put things out of reach, as Cruz scored six of the eight points and Crowningshield also drilled a jumper to make it 42-24 with 4:58 remaining.
Gamache said his team was prepared for Lynn Tech, thanks in large part to a plethora of Tigers’ game film available on the internet.
“We were fortunate in that apparently in Eastern Mass. they like to use YouTube so we got plenty of scouting on them, had a pretty good idea of what they were going to bring,” he said. “We drew up some things. The girls defensively played really well. Offensively, in the second half we certainly finished a little better.”
Now the Eagles will try and seal the deal with a victory in tonight’s title game. They’ll meet No. 3 Old Colony (16-5), which defeated No. 2 South Shore, 42-39, in the other semifinal on Thursday. It’ll be a two-plus hour bus ride for the Cougars, whose boys’ team defeated Franklin Tech in the semifinal round on Thursday in the first game of the doubleheader.
“We’re going to have to execute even better to be able to come out with another win,” Gamache said.