Hailey Hanna logged 20 points, including four three-pointers, as the Knights defeated the Oilers 53-17 in the consolation game of Cranberry's Christmas tournament. 

Senior Katie Boal took the ball coast-to-coast several times on her way to 16 points on the afternoon.

Jadyn Blum added 12 points. Sydney Stevens had 3 and Halle Curry had two. 

Payton Liederbach was the top scorer for Oil City with 13 of the team's 17 points. 

Franklin (4-5) returns to action when they host Sharon for a game on January 3. 

In the championship game, Harbor Creek beat Cranberry 63-44. Looking for scores from all this weekend's tournaments? D9 and 10 Sports has a complete list online here. 

Franklin and Rocky Grove gave the crowd a thriller to close out the Dick Russell Memorial Christmas Tournament Saturday at The Castle.

The Knights came out victorious 53-50 thanks to an old-fashioned three-point play by Will Findlan with less than seven seconds to play.

Franklin jumpstarted the contest with a three-pointer by Alex Umbenhaur in the first 16 seconds.

The Orioles tied it 10 seconds later with a trey by Landen Carter and the tone of the game was set.
The teams exchanged buckets before Schiffer Anderson hit for three and Rocky Grove had the lead for the first time. Findlan had two baskets in the last minute of the quarter to give the Knights a slim margin at 11-10.

The Orioles scored first in the second quarter with a basket by Connor Ritchey at 6:55. Findlan answered for Franklin.
Noah Baughman hit his first two foul shots of the night and then three more after a Franklin technical on an attempt from behind the arch. Rocky Grove was ahead 17-14.

After trading baskets over the next few minutes of play, Franklin tied the game at 22 with a steal and a fastbreak by Nate Fezell. They went ahead by one when he converted the extra point on the foul.

Anderson answered by the Orioles to regain the lead 24-23.
Findlan took the lead back for the Knights 25-24. Baughman hit for three and then sunk two from the foul line as the Orioles surged ahead 29-25 with less than a minute left in the half.

Umbenhaur closed out the Knights’ first half offense with another two points before the team foul count sent Anderson to the line for two more for the Orioles, who went into the locker room with a 31-27 advantage.
The second half was much of the same.

Franklin struck first with two points by Jameson Wofford. Rocky Grove answered with a reverse layup by Anderson.
Wofford and Ian Higley combined for the next four points to tie the game at 33.

Baughman and Anderson pushed back with five points of their own.
Findlan hit for two for Franklin before Rocky Grove had six unanswered points, the longest run of the game.

With one minute left in the third, the Orioles were leading 44-35, but Franklin would not be denied. By the end of the quarter, they had decreased the gap to 46-40 with a bucket off an inbound pass to Findlan with only three seconds to play.

Down the stretch, the Knights outscored the Orioles 13-4. Things started with a bucket each by Findlan and Wofford. Carter hit two for Rocky Grove to keep them ahead 48-45 with just under half a quarter to go.

About a minute later Findlan scored and was foul. His successful free throw tied the game at 48 all.

Franklin took the lead temporarily when Wofford hit for two.

Aiden Focht returned the contest to a tie with two points for the Orioles.

With about seven seconds left to play, Findlan scored again, and was fouled again. His plus one gave Franklin a three-point lead.
After a series of timeouts, Rocky Grove inbounded the ball with three seconds to play. Anderson put up a three-pointer that went in and out of the rim, giving the game the thrilling ending it deserved.

Findlan had a game-high 22 points to lead the Knights. Wofford had 14, Fezell and Higley had six apiece, and Umbenhaur had 5.

Baughman led the Orioles with 20 points. Anderson had 14, Carter had 12, and Focht and Ritchey had two each.

Findlan was named the tournament MVP. Higley and Anderson were named to the all-tournament team alongside Will McMahon of Oil City and Shane Peters of Karns City.

Franklin (6-3) returns to action on January 7 when they travel to Conneaut Area.

Rocky Grove (6-2) hosts Redbank Valley for a game on January 3.  
 

Franklin overcame a sluggish second quarter to beat Karns City 71-61 on the first night of the Christmas basketball tournament at The Castle.

Will Findlan led the Knights with 28 points, including 11 in the third quarter. Ian Higley and Jameson Wofford had 16 points apiece.

Shane Peters had a game-high 32 points to lead the Gremlins.

Rocky Grove defeated Oil City 57-46 earlier in the night. Pictures and a write-up on that game can be found here.
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Franklin plays neighboring Rocky Grove at 7 p.m. tonight. Karns City will faceoff against Oil City at 5:30 p.m. 

Rocky Grove put together a balanced offensive attack, strong defensive rebounding and a dominating third quarter to come from behind to beat Oil City 57-48 on the first day of the Christmas basketball tournament at Franklin.

The Oilers held the upper hand for the first half of the game, grabbing the first bucket about a minute into the game.

Aiden Focht scored eight of the Orioles’ 11 points in the first quarter to help keep Rocky Grove within striking distance after the first quarter.  

Going into the second quarter with a two-point margin, Oil City hit for seven unanswered points to open the frame and jump out to a 20-11 lead.

Scoring fell flat for about three minutes before Rocky Grove went on a short run of their own to pull back within three.

​The Oilers got one more basket and Focht added a foul shot for the Orioles before the stanza ended 22-18 Oil City.

After the half, the Orioles offensive hit a rhythm that Oil City couldn’t figure out how to stop.
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Noah Baughman got things started with this first three-pointer of the game. Schiffer Anderson scored the next four points, before Baughman hit for another two before Landen Carter also got a basket.

​Oil City scored their only points of the third quarter with two points at the 2:30 minute mark.

Orioles scored 12 unanswered points to end the period, including six from Carter, three from Focht, two from Connor Ritchey and one from Anderson, to complete a 23-2 Rocky Grove run in the third.

The offensive action continued in the fourth as the Oilers used a full court press to attempt a comeback as the two teams traded baskets to open the period.

​Oil City went on a 13-2 run in two minutes of play to pull within nine at 55-46 with less than 90 seconds to go.

Rocky Grove used strategic timeouts and played keep away from from the Oilers forcing them  to foul to stop the clock.  
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In the final minute, Oil City could only manage one more basket to close the gap to seven.

In a fitting end for the Orioles, Focht hit two foul shots with less than 15 seconds to close out the game and give Rocky Grove a 57-48 win.

Focht scored a game-high 18 points. Carter had 13. Anderson and Ritchey had nine apiece and Baughman had 8.

Franklin defeated Karns City 71-61 to close out the first night of tournament action. Pictures from that game can be found here. 

Rocky Grove will return to action against Franklin tomorrow at 7 p.m. Oil City will play against Karns City at 5:30 p.m. 

Will Findlan led the offensive charge with 23 points as Franklin easily defeated Cochranton 78-60 in a non-region match up Friday night at The Castle.

Findlan was the first to put points on the board when he hit a foul shot 13 seconds into the contest. With that, Franklin took the lead and never looked back. 

Walker Carroll scored 10 of his game high 27 points in the first quarter to keep the Cardinals within striking distance at 17-12 after eight minutes of play.

The second quarter belonged to Franklin, who used a full court press to keep Cochranton on their heels throughout the game. After two points by Cochranton's Brady Rynd, Ian Higley ran off nine points during an 11-point run by Franklin. 

That put the Knights up by 14 with more than four minutes left in the half. The teams exchanged buckets down the stretch as Cochranton started playing the full court press as well. 

At the half, Franklin was up 38-25.

In the third, Findlan took control of the offensive attack for Franklin, bucketing 16 points including back-to-back three pointers. 

The Cardinals tried to keep up, taking advantage of fouls by going seven for seven from the line. But it was not enough and the deficit grew to 64-39 at the end of three.

Franklin held back a final push from Cochranton, which included nine points by Carroll before he fouled out with 3:30 left to play. 

Franklin moves to 3-2 on the season with the 78-60 win. They return to action Tuesday when they travel to Titusville to take on the Rockets. 

Scoring for Franklin were Findlan with 23; Jameson Wofford, 17; Higley, 14; Alex Umbenhaur, 9; Nate Fezell, 6; Nolan Parry, 4; Ashton Purich, 3; and Nick Fezell, 2. 

Along with Carroll's 27, the Cardinals Rynd had 14; Parke Haskins, 6; Albert Andrews, 5; and CJ Shorts and Nick Knapka with 4.

Titusville boys and girls dominated Franklin Thursday night at home.

The boys won 105-64. Franklin's Cam Smith was out with an injury so Titusville took advantage.

Three Rockets qualified in three more races for districts.
Ian Hironomous in the 200 freestyle, Joe Herman in the 100 backstroke and Max Chatham in the 200 individual medley.

The girls squad also dominated winning all but one race, 127-49.

Both coach Kevin Dawson and coach Shane Steffy said this was a good way to start Region play.

Isabella Mucha qualified for districts in diving.

We'll have more in the Titusville News-Journal next week.

​​Titusville’s full court press put the squeeze on Rocky Grove efforts offensive efforts in the Rockets flew passed the Orioles 42-37 in the opening round of the Roy Sanner Tip Off Tournament Friday night.

The Rockets were the first on the score board with a fast break bucket by Addie Burleigh. The Orioles answered a minute later with two from Grascen Reyburn and the back and forth battle began.
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At the end of the first quarter, Rocky Grove held a slight advantage at 9-6.  
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The teams exchanged baskets to open the second quarter. The Orioles increased their lead to 16-14 off a three-pointer from Ainsley Anderson.

Then the Rockets went on the defensive attack with a full court press midway through the second stanza.
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Titusville forced turnovers and steals, converting many of them into quick baskets.  With just under two minutes left in the half, Kasey Krepps hit her second bucket in 30 seconds and the Rockets found themselves with a 20-16.
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Freshman Abigail Mawhinney scored two points despite being fouls and brough the Orioles within two at the halftime.

The Orioles returned to the floor on a mission and scored the first seven points of the half, thanks to the work of Anderson and Lydia Kennedy.

With 5:19 to go in the third quarter, Nora Lesko ignited a seven-point run by the Rockets.
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Rocky Grove answered back with six of their own, including a triple by Anderson at the buzzer and the score was 31-27, Rocky Grove in the lead.

The fourth quarter, however, belonged to the Rockets. They outscored the Orioles 15-6 in the final eight minutes.

The Orioles played tough until the end, pulling within three points with 25 seconds left, on Anderson’s second three-pointer of the night.
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Krepp sealed the deal for the Rockets when she hit for two at the 17 second mark.
Krepps and Burleigh led the Rockets on offense with 12 points apiece. Norah Blakeslee has 8, Ava Matteson had 6; and Lesko and Abbie Colle both had two.
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Anderson was the night’s leading scorer, with 14 points for the Orioles. Kennedy had 12, Mawhinney had 4, Faith Copley had 3 and Reyburn and Payton Phillips both had 2.

With the 42-37 win, the Rockets earned a spot in the championship game versus Cranberry at 4 p.m. Saturday at Rocky Grove High School.
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The Orioles will kick off Saturday’s contest with a 1 p.m. consolation game against Oil City.