Franklin’s Holly Harris Puts on a Show vs. Centennial

Holly Harris Franklin
Franklin's Holly Harris scored 33 points in a win over Centennial.

It was, unquestionably, the Holly Harris show from start to finish in Franklin’s 51-23 victory over Centennial at Franklin High on Friday night.

Harris scored 33 points, helping the Lady Rebels (21-2, 11-2) coast to a win over their city rival. She out-scored Centennial alone in each half.

A 19-4 advantage in the second quarter helped Franklin run away from the Cougars. Harris had 12 in the period.

It was more of the same in the second half, with the senior hitting a pair of 3-pointers midway through the third quarter, helping Franklin to a 22-point lead at that point.

“They just played a different kind of defense than we were used to seeing, but it left a lot of us open for shots, and my teammates were able to hit me at the right spots and set good screens, and it was just an awesome night,” Harris said.

Franklin’s zone limited Centennial to just nine second-half points.

Sarah Harden and Grace Gardner each had six for Franklin.

Ashland Hardin led Centennial with seven points, with Constance Bledsoe scoring five, and Shantel Flye adding four. Centennial’s lone lead came at 3-2 on a Bledsoe 3.

After Franklin scored 12 of the game’s first 16 points, Centennial made a run spanning the end of the first quarter and the start of the second.

The Cougars’ Hardin converted a lay-up off the in-bounds pass, then, after Flye hit a foul shot, Hardin connected with a 3 to cut the lead to 12-10.

But from there on, it was bombs away for Franklin, which hit six 3-pointers in the remainder of the quarter.

Harris hit the second and the last, then, created her own space with a drive and a lay-up along the left side a second or two before the halftime buzzer.

That made it 31-14 at half, with Harris’s 18 leading all scorers at that point.

No stopping Harris

Harris, who will attend Alabama-Huntsville on a basketball scholarship, was brilliant from start to finish.

The Lady Rebels’ point guard was constantly bombing 3s—she he four in the first half alone—and also finding open teammates for assists on a  number of occasions.

She was the focus of Centennial’s man-to-man defensive effort much of the night. But it didn’t much matter what the Cougars did, as Harris had her way anyway.

“I thought we were really unselfish and really shared the ball,” Franklin coach John Wild said. “I thought we did a great job of really trying to screen for (Harris) in some of the sets we were running.

“Sometimes that’s overlooked. She made some big shots, but there were kids getting her open with screens, too.”