Chitwood Leads Rally as New Franklin Tops Salisbury for District Title

The New Franklin Lady Bulldogs scored the final twelve points of the game as they rallied for a 59-52 win over Salisbury in Saturday’s Class 2 District 7 championship game. Salisbury held a 52-47 lead with just under three minutes remaining when the comeback began. Freshman Lily Chitwood led the rally for the Lady Bulldogs.

Colin Schowe with the calls on 99.9 The Captain and centralmoinfo.com. Chitwood scored 14 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Panthers 21-10 in the final frame. New Franklin coach Morgan Grosse said Chitwood stepped up in a big moment.

Carly Dorson added 14 points while Brynn Bestle scored ten. The win improves New Franklin’s record to 20-8 and gives them a district title for the first time since 2017. Grosse said this is a special moment for the program.

Salisbury outscored the Lady Bulldogs 17-14 in the second quarter to grab a 27-25 lead at halftime. They held the lead for the majority of the second half until New Franklin’s final flurry. Salisbury coach Barry Graskewicz explains what went wrong down the stretch.

Joslynn Brown led the Lady Panthers with 18 points. Taylor Nolke and Julia Sloan joined her in double figures with 16 and twelve points respectively. Salisbury concludes the season with a record of 17-9 and a roster comprised completely of underclassmen. Graskewicz said his team can learn a lot from this experience.

New Franklin advances to Tuesday’s Class 2 Sectional at Jefferson City High School to face Tipton.

 

New Franklin coach Morgan Grosse

Salisbury coach Barry Graskewicz