​Franklin jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start Friday's game against rival Oil City and never let up.

​The Knights fended off a second half push by the Oilers to take the 65-59 region win in The Castle.

The Knights led 14-5 after one, using aggressive defenses that kept the Oilers from hitting a field goal for the first five minutes. 

Franklin outscored Oil City again in the second to increase their lead to 32-17.  

It was more of the same to start the third quarter with Jameson Wofford sending two blocks flying into the stands.

​But the Oilers fought back to decrease the gap to 10 at 45-35. 

Both teams saved their best efforts for last. Oilers won the stanza, pulling as close as four points with 15 seconds to play. 

Wofford had a game-high 21 points for the Knights, including 13 in the second half. 

Nevin Stinson had 20 points for the Oilers. 

Coaches jumped to their feet. The crowd bubbled with noise. The 145 match went to the wire... passed the wire according to some in the stands.

Parker Miller of Titusville was facing undefeated Rudy Gentile in the Tool City finals. Miller had surprised the gifted Greenville Trojan by putting him on his back and racking up some points.

In the final frame, with seconds to go, Gentile appeared to make his move.

The tenacious Rocky Grove boys basketball team used control on both ends of the court to defeat the Franklin Knights for the first time in nearly four decades.

The back-and-forth battle at the Castle on Saturday night featured 12 lead changes and eight ties ending with e 70-65 victory for the Orioles.
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Franklin held an 18-17 advantage after one quarter.

Rocky Grove led 34-29 at halftime, 47-46 after the third. Both team exploded for a combine 42 points in the final stanza.

Franklin’s largest lead was 18-12 in the first quarter, while Rocky Grove accumulated a 57-46 margin after opening the fourth quarter with a 10-point run.
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Down the stretch it was the disparity in team foul totals that gave the Orioles the upper hand.

With just under three minutes to play, Franklin recorded their fifth foul, while Rocky Grove only had one.

This situation contributed to the Orioles at the foul line six times in the remaining minutes versus Franklin only shooting free throws.
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The Knights closed the gap to three points twice in the last 30 seconds, but the Orioles answered each time, to keep control of the scoreboard.

It is the first time the smaller school defeated their larger neighbor since Dec. 19, 1986, according to local sports guru Tom Reisenweber of the Erie Times-News.
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The 1,000-point senior duo of Landen Carter and Noah Baughman lead the offensive attack for the Orioles.

Carter netted 32 and Baughman had 19

Jameson Wofford was top among the Knight scorers with 22.
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The Dick Russell Memorial Tournament was planned for a Friday night start, but with the threat of an approaching ice storm the organizers simply moved those games to Monday

The Franklin Knights hosted the Meadville Bulldogs for a back-and-forth battle in The Castle that came down to the difference in free throw percentages. 

The first three minutes of the game looked like it would be a runaway victory for the Knights. Three minutes later, the Bulldogs, led by Amarius Foster, were back in the fight, dominating the court with a 14-2 run to close out the first stanza with a 16-13 edge. 

In the second quarter, Nolan Parry hit four points in the opening minute of the second quarter to help Franklin reclaim the lead at 17-16. 

Before the first half ended, Meadville tied the game at 27 with less than 90 seconds to go. Two more buckets from the Knights, and Franklin walked to the locker room with a 31-27 lead. 

The Knights increased the margin to 10 points as all five starters (Parry, Josiah Rodriguez, Nate Fezell, Jameson Wofford, Ian Higley) contributed to the offensive attack.  

Once again, Meadville fought back to close the gap to only three with 2:30 left to play. The Bulldogs won the quarter with 23 points, including nine from Foster. But late game foul trouble was too much for the team to overcome and the free throw line provided the difference.

At the 35 second mark, Keithen Arnold hit two free throws to pull Meadville within three, as Franklin held a 60-57 advantage. The Knights went seven for eight down the stretch to hang on for the 67-60 win. 

Overall, the Knights shot 87.5% from the line (14 for 16) and the Bulldogs hit 66.6% (12 for 18).  

Foster had a game-high 19 points. Arnold recorded 17 on the night. 

Franklin was led by Wofford with 17 and Fezell with 11. 

​​Titusville tapped into the depth of their bench, fortitude of their players and a tough full-court press to defeat Cranberry to take the title at the Roy Sanner Tournament at Rocky Grove High School Saturday.

The title game started as a back-and-forth defensive battle between the two teams who also met in the championship game last year. 
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The Berries struck first and recorded the first five points. Molly Covell and Kasey Krepps answered for the Rockets, but Cranberry won the foul-riddled first quarter 9-7.

The second quarter, however, belonged to Titusville. At the 6:11 mark, the Rockets tied the game at 11 with a bucket by Addie Burleigh. It was the start of a 14-point run, mostly the product of a steely full-court press, five consecutive steals and several quick passes.  

With 1:14 left in the half, Titusville had extended its lead to 13 on a three-pointer by Kennedy Baker. Cranberry responded with a bucket plus 1 at the buzzer and the Rockets went into the locker room with a 26-16 edge. 
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The second half was a little more of the same for the Rockets, aggressive play defensively and outpacing the Berries on offensive, but with a twist - point guard Molly Covell was playing with four fouls. 

The Rockets were riddled with players with multiple fouls, the side-effect of aggressive play.

​Burleigh hit six of her game total 12 points in the third quarter to help Titusville gain a 39-25 advantage.

But the Berries had more fight left in them. They outscored the Rockets 16-2 in the first half of the final stanza. The game was 41-all with 4:17 left to play and the Rockets were without starter Norah Blakeslee who had fouled out. 
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Krepps powered through to break the tie just as the energy wave seemed to have turned Cranberry's way. 

Titusville regained the lead 43-41, but lost starter Mariah Covell 20 seconds later when she joined Blakeslee on the bench due to fouls. 

Krepps answered again with another two points.

Cranberry fought back and the teams were tied at 46 with 51 seconds to play.

Baker sunk a three at the :35 mark and the Rockets took control once again. The Rockets held Cranberry scoreless for the remainder of the game and Burleigh hit both of her free throws with under 10 seconds left to seal the 51-46 victory.
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Admittedly foul trouble played a role in the second half of the game, according to head coach Sarah Weigel, "They turned it (defense) down a little bit," she said, noting that they also found times to turn the intensity back up as needed.

"They're learning how to find that balance."  

Burleigh, who finished with 12 points, was named the tournament MVP. "She's fast, and if we can get her the ball and she's finishing and she's making her free throws... she's clutch when we need her," Weigel said. "In these pressure situations, she's good at that." 

Krepps, who was named to the all-tournament team, scored a game-high 17 points. "If this is where we are already, I can't wait for her this season. It's going to be good," Weigel said.
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Baker had eight, Molly Covell had six and Blakeslee and Brooklyn Whitman each had four.

The bench played a key role in the game despite being shorthanded with Nora Lesko, a scrappy defender and good ball handler sitting out after getting hurt in collision Friday night in the opening round. 
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The Rockets had advanced to the championship game after a 45-11 win over Rocky Grove on Friday night. 

It was the first games of the year for the Rockets, who stand at 2-0.
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"It was a great start to the season," Weigel said. Her team will be back on the court Monday night with JV and varsity games at Seneca High School. 

Maplewood girls volleyball team seeks seventh state championship Saturday after sweeping Eden-Christian Tuesday night.

​Eden got stronger as the match went but they weren’t able to fend off a very disciplined Maplewood squad that won 25-4,25-21 and 25-20. The last set the Tigers had to come from behind being down 15-9 at one point. 

Last Saturday the Tigers lost their only set the entire state tournament. 
In that game, from the opening whistle it was looking like the Tigers may have met their match. The first set wasn’t ugly, but Frasier was ready for everything Sheila Bancroft’s Tigers had, including a comeback.
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The Tigers could never grab a lead. Down 10-5, Bancroft wasn’t in panic mode and just kept coaching from the sidelines without a time out.

Her team responded, coming back to tie at 14, then 16 and again at 22, but never got a lead. At 22-19 Bancroft called her first timeout and it seemed to be the fix, but Frasier had an answer calling a timeout at 22-21 and then only gave up one more point taking the first set 25-22.
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Wood came out of the break with avengence taking an 8-1 lead. But then it was Frasier’s turn to come back and it looked as if they had the magic sauce to keep Wood off balance taking the lead 12-11.

But that was really all the Commanders’ had and Wood went on a seven point run before Frazier called a timeout that did little to help.

​After the timeout Frazier, who was discombobulated by a few calls against them, dropped another six straight. Wood cruised to a second set win 25-14.

The third set was another beauty with both teams punching and counter punching. But this time the Tigers just managed to hold off Frazier who made a series of mistakes that helped Maplewood increase their momentum.

​Frazier battled back to a 23-23 tie but dropped the last two, giving the Tigers all the momentum they needed to ride out the threat and pretty much take all of the wind out of the Commander’s sails. Wood cruised to an easy 25-9 fourth set victory.
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Maplewood will take on District 11 top seed Tri-Valley at 10:30 a.m. at Cumberland Valley High School.