Washington survives Hempstead run, moves on to 5A regional final

CEDAR RAPIDS - You weren't really certain what happened because it was off the ball. You just heard a loud thud, then looked up and saw Dani Franklin writhing on the ground in pain.

She stayed there for awhile.

"I don't even know what happened," said Cedar Rapids Washington Coach Frank Howell. "I didn't see it."

"I was just thinking 'Get up, get up,'" said Washington's Aleena Hobbs.

Franklin eventually did get up, checked out of the ballgame for a mere seconds, came right back in and hit a pair of huge 3s that helped the eighth-ranked Warriors stem a third-quarter tide against them and beat back Dubuque Hempstead, 70-56, in a Class 5A regional semifinal.

It was a right hip injury Franklin suffered, by the way. There was an ice bag attached to it after the game.

"I don't remember what happened," she said. "I passed it, then I cut. I think I just kind of bruised it when I went through the air and landed on it. It hurt. It's all red and bruised right now. But I'm fine."

Washington (18-4) is fine in its attempt to get back to the state tournament. It'll play No. 9 Southeast Polk in a regional final Tuesday night at Cedar Rapids Prairie.

"I thought we played really well together as a team tonight," said Hobbs, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. "We were all finding open players, and everyone was hitting their shots. That was really key for us. Multiple girls contributed and that helped."

The Warriors had a 32-20 lead at halftime and went ahead by 17 early in the third quarter. That's when Hempstead (14-9) went into a trapping zone defense that got it as close as three.Washington regained its composure in time, with the long-distance heroics of Franklin and Jasmine Jones helping it re-establish a double-digit advantage it nursed the rest of the way. Franklin had 26 points, making 5 of 7 shots from distance.

"The team set great screens, we were running the right plays," she said. "That helped a lot."

"The third quarter they kind of ran a little different defense at us," Howell said. "We knew they could do that, we talked about it. It was something a little different than what other teams have done against us, and we got caught flat footed pretty badly. That turned the complexion of the game around for them. After awhile, we adjusted to it and got some good shots."

Ashley Dolan and Nakiah Kimble had 15 points apiece for Hempstead, which shot just 36 percent, including 4 of 23 from 3-point land. Conversely, Washington was 8 of 15 from distance.

AT C.R. WASHINGTON

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD (56): Ashley Dolan 4-8 7-9 15, Jessica Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Hope Koerperich 5-9 2-5 13, Nakiah Kimble 4-10 4-5 15, Danielle Wagner 0-10 1-4 1, Alesha Duccini 0-2 0-0 0, Megan Groneau 0-5 0-0 0, Gabby Riley 5-8 0-3 10, Rachel Bybee 0-2 0-0 0, Kinsey Vander Lee 0-2 0-0 0, Courtney Beringer 0-0 0-0 0, Megan Samson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 14-26 56.

C.R. WASHINGTON (70): Kandis O'Donnell 4-8 0-0 8, Dani Franklin 7-10 7-9 26, Sophie Ochs 2-3 0-0 5, Aleena Hobbs 5-9 5-8 15, Jasmyne Jones 1-1 1-2 4, Callie Cook 1-4 2-5 4, Kiki West-Doyle 1-3 0-0 2, Joniqua Clark 0-0 2-2 2, Allie Semrau 1-1 0-0 3, M.J. Kamin 0-1 0-0 0, Anne Visser 0-3 1-2 1, Lilly Hartman 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Squires 0-0 0-0 0, McKenna Angellotti 0-0 0-0 0, Brittany Cullen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-43 18-28 70.Halftime - Washington 32, Hempstead 20. 3-point goals - Washington 8-15 (Franklin 5-7, Ochs 1-2, Jones 1-1, Cook 0-1, Semrau 1-1, Kamin 0-1, Visser 0-2), Hempstead 4-23 (Dolan 0-3, Koerperich 1-4, Kimble 3-7, Wagner 0-5, Duccini 0-1, Bybee 0-1, Vander Lee 0-2). Rebounds - Washington 30 (Hobbs 11), Hempstead 33 (Koerperich 7). Total fouls - Washington 25, Hempstead 26. Fouled out - Brown. Turnovers - Washington 20, Hempstead 18.