Mounting injuries to the New Franklin roster, combined with the hot shooting of Community junior Angel Sarah, doomed the Lady Bulldogs in the semifinal round of the Sturgeon Tournament on Wednesday. New Franklin, seeded fourth, fell 56-31 and will now face third-seeded South Callaway in the third-place game at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“It was a tough loss for us and injuries arose throughout,” said New Franklin coach Morgan Vetter. “We weren't able to hang with Community. We look forward to playing for a third-place trophy on Saturday against a tough South Calloway team.”

Community, seeded first, shot out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter on hot shooting from Sarah, who banked 14 of her game-high 25 points in the first eight minutes. Junior Oliva Kuda scored six first-quarter points for the Trojans, and was perfect from the charity stripe, knocking down all six free-throw attempts in the first half. 

Community added 11 more points to the scoreboard before halftime, while holding New Franklin to six in the second quarter. The Lady Bulldogs struggled from the line, hitting just two of nine free throws. 

The third quarter was more of the same, as Sarah picked up 11 more points to lead Community in a 17-point third quarter to widen put the game out of reach 49-18 after three quarters.

New Franklin was able to turn in a double-digit period in the fourth with 13 points, led by Addy Salmon’s five points. The junior paced the Lady Bulldogs with 14 points the night. She scored five field goals and made four of nine free-throw shots. Junior Carly Dorson added 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Senior Abby Maupin scored two points. Freshmen Tatum Hoover and KeBrea Fair each contributed two points off the bench.

New Franklin, now 9–7 overall, will tipoff at 2 p.m. against South Callaway (10-7) at Sturgeon High School on Saturday. South Callaway opened the tournament with a 68-44 win over host-team Sturgeon on Monday, before falling 61-52 to second-seeded Salisbury on Wednesday. 

Community improves to 14-1 overall and will take on Salisbury at 5 p.m. on Saturday for the tournament championship.