Franklin girls lacrosse beats rival Brentwood to repeat as state champions

BRENTWOOD – It wasn't a season of perfection like a year ago for Franklin's girls lacrosse team, but the finish remained the same.

Aliya Polisky, a Stanford commitment, powered the Lady Admirals to their second consecutive Tennessee Girls Lacrosse Association's public school state championship with a 17-9 win over rival Brentwood on Saturday.

"Know that we are the best in Tennessee, is something I'll always cherish forever," Polisky said. "We came into this game knowing we had lost to Brentwood (in the regular season). 

"We lost badly. We took that and used that as fuel to win this game."

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Polisky, a junior, scored 10 goals to pace Franklin and help avenge a 14-8 loss on March 23 to the Lady Bruins in what was the program's lone public school defeat.

"We've gotten a lot better since we played them in the regular season," Franklin senior Ellie Williams said. "It was a very physical game. We've been practicing so hard.

"That was our first loss since freshman year for people in my grade."

Franklin (17-3) also lost to Ensworth and Hutchison.

Brentwood finished 15-4. The Lady Bruins reached the championship game after a thrilling 17-16 win over Ravenwood, scoring the game winner in the final 40 seconds.

Polisky's offensive performance came despite Brentwood face guarding her to attempt to slow her down.

"That pushes me to do better," she said. "I want that tough competition. I'm going to be playing against harder competition (at Standford). I want that competition now."

Polisky entered the postseason with 67 goals. Franklin then rolled past Farragut and Seymour in the quarterfinals an semifinals, respectively, to reach the championship.

She was a Tennessean All-Midstate first-team player in 2021 as a sophomore when she scored 80 goals and had 42 assists when the Lady Admirals finished 18-0.

"This is huge for our program," Franklin coach Carly Normandeau said. "Last year was our first time winning it. So, to be able to establish ourselves as that type of a program and come back and do it again shows we mean business."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.