Franklin rallies from early deficit, survives in Somerset County Tournament semifinal win over Gill St. Bernard’s

Franklin girls basketball saw a turning point on its home floor in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals.

The third-seeded Warriors (17-7, 2-2) trailedsecond-seeded Gill St. Bernard’s 14-3 in the game’s opening minutes. The Knights (18-5, 3-1) were racing up and down the floor, and got whatever they wanted with their full-court trapping pressure.

But all it took was seeing one shot fall.

Franklin rallied from the early deficit and used a strong second quarter to keep the game in contention, before controlling the possession late to come away with a 53-49 victory.

Junior forward Aleah Sunkins personified the comeback as well as anyone, finishing with a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds after scoring just one point in the first quarter.

Senior guard Addy Platt did much of the scoring and playmaking early on, as Gill St. Bernard’s continued to up the pace and sped up its opposition. The Warriors managed to slow things down a bit towards the end of the opening quarter, and cut the 11-point deficit to eight.

That’s when Franklin took over.

Sunkins scored 11 of the Warriors’ 18 points in the quarter, while senior guard Alissa Myers knocked down two three-pointers. They worked a quick 8-0 run to tie the game back up midway through, and kept close to go into the locker room ahead by two points.

The third quarter was much of the same on both sides, albeit a higher-scoring frame. The Knights retook the lead by a point after 24 minutes, led by seven points from junior guard Melina Miller and six from fellow junior Kaity Platt.

Neither team was able to pull ahead as they each traded blows, but five points from sophomore guard Jamila McRiney proved to be a much-needed scoring boost when the offense started to slow.

McRiney finished with seven points — all in the second half — and nine rebounds as one of Franklin’s more important contributors next to Sunkins.

The back-and-forth affair continued into the fourth quarter, and the Warriors attempted to slow the game down, clinging to a one-score lead. They knocked down a trio of three-pointers to help keep control of the lead, with one from Sunkins and two from Myers.

Franklin made its free throws late — with McRiney and senior Nola Bright each hitting a pair late — to come away with the hard-fought victory.

Addy Platt led Gill St. Bernard’s with 20 points, tying Sunkins for the game lead, while Kaity Platt added 12, and Miller scored 11 in the loss.

The Warriors have now won six straight games, and ten of 11 after a slow start to the year.

They also move on to their fifth Somerset County Tournament final, looking for their second title. They won their most recent appearance over Rutegrs Prep in 2019.

Franklin will face off against the top-seeded Argonauts in the final next weekend, on Saturday at Montgomery High School at 1 pm.

Click below for postgame reaction with Franklin junior Aleah Sunkins and head coach Jimmy Kreie, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: