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By Pat Dailey (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Hayley Frank put herself within striking distance of becoming Strafford’s career scoring leader and the 1,000-rebound milestone on Wednesday. But the stat that held her attention more than any other was her three missed free throws in the Lady Indians’ 72-23 win over Willard at the Pink & White Lady Classic.
Frank entered the contest 36-of-38 from the foul line on the season.
“I missed more free throws today than I had all year,” the all-stater said. “It’s a key to knock down free throws. Those are easy points. So, it’s frustrating when they’re bouncing off the back of the rim. It’s not that I thought I couldn’t make them. I’ve shot so many I know I can make them. I don’t what it was. I just had to re-focus.
“When we came out at halftime, all I did was shoot free throws.”
Frank planned to practice more on her free-throw shooting upon returning home to Strafford.
“Maybe shoot a few hundred,” she said.
Abby Oliver set Strafford’s scoring standard by finishing with 1,788 career points last season. Lady Indians coach Steve Frank said if Hayley meets her averages, she could break Oliver’s record and also reach 1,000 boards this week.
The Franks weren’t sure what Hayley’s exact numbers were after Wednesday’s game. But Hayley said it will be gratifying to break a mark held by Oliver. The two were teammates the past two seasons.
“It will be special because I’ve got in a lot of shots and worked hard over the years,” Hayley said. “Also, Abby is a great player, I looked up to her and learned a lot from her.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Strafford (10-0) shot well everywhere but the free-throw line versus Willard, with the Lady Indians hitting 28-of-46 field goals. Frank, Maddison Chittenden and Zoey Mullings combined for incredible 24-of-28 shooting.
Frank put in a game-high 25 points. Chittenden made her first six shots, including a par of 3-pointers, on her way to an 18-point effort. Mullings netted a trio of 3s en route to 17 points.
Steve Frank appreciated his players’ passing, which set up open looks around the basket.
“We try to play high percentage on everything,” he said. “That’s a credit to the kids. We like to share the ball. There’s no selfishness on our team.
“When you have (Chittenden) on the back side, it makes it hard on teams if they try to help (on the ball). And of course, if they don’t help, we’ve got a good tandem inside. That makes for a matchup problem for teams.”
Steve Frank was glad to see Mullings shake from an early-season slump.
“She played really well,” he said. “Going down the stretch in the playoffs last year, she was huge for us. But she had a slow start this year. i feel like she’s getting back into the groove and rolling again. Hopefully, that will lead to bigger things.”
Despite her post-season heroics last season, Mullings hadn’t played with tremendous confidence this season.
“My parents have been asking me why and I don’t really know how to explain it,” she said. “The biggest thing for me is confidence because I lack confidence a lot.”
Mullings felt her offensive output Wednesday was triggered by her work defensively.
“I got a couple rebounds and got us out in transition,” she said. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Okay, I have to keep doing that.’ My teammates fed off of me and I feed off them, it goes back and forth.”
The 9:30 a.m. start didn’t slow Stratford. The Lady Indians were up 41-7 at the half. Willard finished with 24 turnovers.
“We usually get up in the morning and work out, so it didn’t have any effect on us,” Mullings said. “But we knew we were going to have to come out with a lot of energy because there wasn’t many people here and the crowd wasn’t going to provide any energy.”
“I wouldn’t say we were worried, but we knew they were going to give us a good game,” Hayley Frank said. “We came in ready and that showed. We jumped on them early.”
Stratford moves on play Branson in a semifinal game Thursday. The matchup with feature Frank, a Mizzou commit, and the Lady Pirates’ Priscilla Williams, who has also been offered a scholarship by the Lady Tigers.
“That will be a fun matchup,” Hayley Frank said. “She’s a good player. She’d look even better in Mizzou colors.”
Willard 6 1 11 5 – 23
Strafford 21 23 21 7 – 72
