By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Friday night, the Franklin High School Lady Quakers hosted the Bishop Blanchet Bears, who entered the game undefeated in Metro League play, in an exciting matchup.
The game was very intense from the start, with Blanchet’s Stella Na quickly scoring to give her team an early advantage. Franklin’s Khamille Chappell was arguably the most dominant player on the court, as she was a disruptive force on defense and made her way to the basket on the offensive side of the ball. Led by Chappell, who finished the game with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 steals, the Lady Quakers went toe-to-toe with the Lady Bears as they locked up in a defensive battle. The Quakers also got timely contributions from Ciara Tu’u and Shukri Hassan as the two teams battled to a 7-7 tie at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lady Quakers remained resilient with tough defense from Tu’u and Chappell. Tu’u connected on a three-point shot, with an assist from Chappell, that pushed the Lady Quakers ahead 10-7. Blanchet’s Head Coach Brett Hecko then lit a fire under his team and turned to shooting machine Brooke Campbell to lead the charge. Campbell, who scored 8 points in the second quarter, ignited an 8-0 run by the Lady Bears as her team took control of the game. With the momentum shifting to Blanchet, Ali Fortune added a basket to make the score 15-10 with just 1:38 left on the clock. Then, in a final effort to extend the lead, Campbell scored again, pushing the Bears’ lead to 17-10 as they closed out the first half with confidence.
At the start of the second half, Blanchet, led by Na, built an 11-point lead over the Lady Quakers. The Lady Bears’ Neko Joseph converted three shots from the free-throw line, and Francesca Marona also made a free throw, as Blanchet held a 23-12 lead with five minutes remaining in the quarter, while Franklin struggled to turn the game around.
Franklin’s Marijah Johnson committed her fourth foul of the game in the third quarter, sending Kendall Dreis to the line, where she converted two points, followed by an effortless three-point shot by Na as the Lady Bears went on another run. Chappell temporarily stopped the bleeding as she converted a free throw and a three-point shot just seconds before the end of the third quarter, cutting the Blanchet lead to 31-18. However, Joseph hit a buzzer-beater three-point shot as the Lady Bears ended the third quarter with a comfortable 16-point lead over Franklin, 34-18.
In the final quarter, the Lady Quakers gave it their all. Despite Johnson ultimately fouling out, Franklin’s Jewels Carter, who finished the game with 10 points, worked hand-in-hand with Chappell to cut into Blanchet’s lead. However, Campbell, who finished the game with 10 points of her own, was clutch down the stretch to help the Bears earn another Metro League victory as they defeated the Lady Quakers 42-29. With the win, Blanchet remained undefeated in the Metro League with a 10-0 record, while the Lady Quakers fell to 5-4 in the Metro League (7-4 overall).
Na finished the game with 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals to lead the Lady Bears.
After the game, Coach Hecko acknowledged that the Lady Quakers outplayed his team in the first half but was proud of how his team was able to bounce back to close out the game.
“Franklin is a pesky team,” said Hecko. “[They] played really hard. They played harder than us in the first half, and we finally were able to match it in the second half.”
“We got up and hit a couple of threes, which I think kind of put us over the top for the rest of the game,” added Hecko.
Next week, Blanchet will be on the road for their next matchup on January 15 against the Ingraham Rams (4-5), and the Lady Quakers will take on Seattle Academy (7-1) at home on January 15.
