FRANKLIN
Last year, the Franklin High School Lady Broncos built a team from the ground up, but were unable to get a single win, going 0-18.

This year, however, Head Coach Mona Sumblin said she has almost all of the girls back who were playing last year, and she thinks that might make a difference.

“I am impressed with some of the things I’ve seen in practice,” she said, adding that the girls are better at what they run. “We’ll see how it matches up against competition, but I’ve been impressed.”

Of those coming back, Latrina Cross and Kayla Powell have the most experience and are the most well rounded, Sumblin said. But she expects several to play roles, particularly on the defensive end, such as Tanashja Rogers, Jasmine Jordan, Shanita Hicks and Kayla Eley.

“We’re working on making them more well-rounded players,” Sumblin said. “We’ll be working more on the basic fundamentals, but I’ve still been impressed, for now.”

Sumblin said she’s telling her girls that they are going to shoot for the moon, and if they land amongst the stars, that’s OK too.

“Our goal is 100 percent — you’ve got to build for that,” Sumblin said. “I don’t have a number as far as wins, but hey, we are going to win some ball games this year. We will be competitive.”

NUMBERS TO KNOW

375 – After 31 years as the varsity girls basketball coach, Mona Sumblin has earned a record of 375-268. In the past few decades, the Lady Broncos have won 11 district championships, five district runner-ups; 7 regional championships, 1 regional runner-up; 8 state appearances, 1 state championship (1985-86) and 1 state runner-up (2007-08). “And we are hoping we can turn it back around,” Sumblin said. “We still have a spot on the wall waiting for us.”

2– Last year’s Lady Broncos team was a complete rebuild, but this year, they only lost two players. “We were lucky to have a team last year. We had to go out and find players. This year, I pretty much have all of those girls back except two, and I added one more,” the coach said.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Junior point guard Latrina Cross will contine to lead, Sumblin said. “She is the most knowledgeable of the game, and skill wise, she is still our top player,” the coach said. “But we’ve got some girls right on her tail this year, and they should be able to take some of the pressure off of her, so that she doesn’t have to score every time.”

Sophomore Kayla Powell will fill in at the two-guard position, and Sumblin said she’ll be one of their go-to options on the offensive side of the court. Last year, as a freshman, she averaged 4 points per game. “She’ll help take some of the pressure off of Latrina,” the coach said. “She’s an all around athlete  and will be helpful for us in the guard department.”