39 years in the making: Orioles storm the Castle for a W

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

Franklin will try to corral the high flying Cathedral Prep Ramblers, who defeated Oil City in a lopsided 115-55 game last night. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m. after the Rocky Grove, Oil City game scheduled for 6 p.m.

Monday's competition will start with JV teams pairing up in the same manner, starting with Rocky Grove versus Oil City at 3 p.m.

(Editor's note: Individual point totals included in the story have been updated.)