The Franklin Knights defeated the Girard Yellow Jackets 64-55 Tuesday night at PennWest - Edinboro to with the boys basketball PIAA class 3A western finals and earn a trip to Hershey.
The evening started with a "same time, same place" kind of feeling that echoed many of the things fans might have recalled from Franklin's District 10 title game loss to Girard earlier this month. The Yellow Jackets were attacking on both needs of the court and Franklin was struggling with passes and shots.
As one fan so aptly put it "there's a lot of defense out there." Neither team was getting second looks, Girard was employing the full-court press once again, and the threes just weren't hitting.
The lead went back and forth several times during the opening seven minutes, with Cole Buckely and Damon Curry combining for 10 points to meet the 10 logged by superstars Nate Edwards, Kenny Godoy, and Geremia Dell'omo. Then things seemed to get away from the Knights.
Girard hit five points in the final minute of the first quarter and took the momentum into the second. They kept the run going with another seven answered points.
Down by 12, started to group and fight back. Will Findlan came off the bench to relieve Damon Curry and connected for two followed quickly by another basket by Buckley and the Knights were back in the game.
Girard resisted the charge and earned four points of their own. With five minutes left in the half, Franklin was down 27-14.
Franklin woke up as Curry buried a three in nothing but net. The Knights outscored the Yellow Jackets 12- 6 in the final four minutes of the half and took positive momentum into the locker room despite not having the lead ... yet.
As if they heard the directive from one fan in the stands, Franklin knew "they got to win the third and they got to win the fourth." And so they did.
Girard struck first in the second half with a quick layup by Ryan Carr. Franklin quickly answered as Dreyden Payne scored his first two points of the night. Godoy recorded another two for Girard and it was 31-37 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
"It was a game of runs," Curry said after the game. And it was Franklin's turn to have a run for the next four minutes
The Knights stayed aggressive on offense - making fast long passes and dribbling hard to the basket.
Franklin head coach Jason Fulmer said the turning point for the team was a pass play to beat the full court press and score a quick layup.
"It was just a simple one and the lightbulb went off for me," He said. "I was like ‘that’s it.’ We’ve got to remember that. That’s the moment that we got into attacking rather than retreating."
The result was a 13-point run that put them in possession of the lead. Jalen Wood kicked things off with a reverse layup. Dreyden Payne hit two from the foul line. Curry hit two off an assist from Wood, tied the game but missed the plus one. Dreyden Payne made another two. Then Wood hit nothing but net on a trey. Following a steal by Findlan and a bungled pass by the Knights, Buckley grabbed a defensive rebound and later hit for two.
With 3:08 left in the third, Franklin was winning 44-37. Their switch to a zone defense was doing the trick.
With a bucket by Dell'omo, Girard ended the run but Franklin was clearly on a roll. Damarco Payne hit his second three of the night. Shortly after, Findlan went to the line to earn two as Girard had five fouls on the quarter. Dell'omo answered for Girard again. As did Buckley, who this time went coast-to-coast to get his two.
Godoy finished the quarter with two more for the Yellow Jackets, but Franklin held on to a 51-45 lead after 24 minutes of play.
The fourth quarter was defense-heavy again. Girard was able to pull within two as the score sat at 53-51 with only 5:30 left to play. Godoy went to the bench with his fourth foul with a little more than four minutes to go. Buckley had it a two-possession game with a field goal at 3:30 and Franklin was fully in the driver's seat.
Franklin passed the ball around on offense and made Girard come and get them to stop the clock. The final With 1:30 left, Girard missed a shot and Franklin grabbed the rebound. It was only a matter of time and fouls before the Knights took turns at the line. Franklin went nine for 10 from the line in the closing minute of the contest and were able to surrender two more baskets to Girard without flinching.
With 1.4 seconds left in the game, Wood took the line for two of those foul shots as chocolates were already being thrown onto the court.
"At that point, we are up seven with two seconds, it doesn't matter what happens here, but I'm going to knock 'em down like a little Hershey kiss of the top (of the game)," Wood said of the moment. He did just that and Franklin won 64-55.
It was a victory made a little sweeter in little of Franklin's earlier loss to Girard in the District 10 championships, also held at Edinboro.
"It fueled the fire, the hunger," Franklin head coach Jason Fulmer said of this team's heartbreak in the D10 finals. In that game, Franklin was the top seed, on Tuesday Girard held that spot. "We flipped it. We put the bullseye on them," Fulmer said.
"We knew it was going to be a dog fight and we knew we had time to grind, grind, grind," Buckley said. "Last time we just made too many mistakes. This time we cleaned it up and we got the job done."
"I've waited a long, long time," Fulmer said of the trip to Hershey. It is the Knight's first return to the PIAA championship since they won in 2006, according to local sports historian Penny Weichel. Franklin also won in 2001.
"There's only two of them up there," Fulmer said of Franklin's championship banners for boys basketball. "We've had our eyes set on it for quite a while."
According to Buckley, he and his seven fellow seniors have been working toward the state championships since elementary school. "We've worked all our lives for this. I remember there were times in sixth grade when we would tell each other 'hey, we are going to go to Hershey'," he said. "And to finally do it, I don't even know how to describe it."
The evening started with a "same time, same place" kind of feeling that echoed many of the things fans might have recalled from Franklin's District 10 title game loss to Girard earlier this month. The Yellow Jackets were attacking on both needs of the court and Franklin was struggling with passes and shots.
As one fan so aptly put it "there's a lot of defense out there." Neither team was getting second looks, Girard was employing the full-court press once again, and the threes just weren't hitting.
The lead went back and forth several times during the opening seven minutes, with Cole Buckely and Damon Curry combining for 10 points to meet the 10 logged by superstars Nate Edwards, Kenny Godoy, and Geremia Dell'omo. Then things seemed to get away from the Knights.
Girard hit five points in the final minute of the first quarter and took the momentum into the second. They kept the run going with another seven answered points.
Down by 12, started to group and fight back. Will Findlan came off the bench to relieve Damon Curry and connected for two followed quickly by another basket by Buckley and the Knights were back in the game.
Girard resisted the charge and earned four points of their own. With five minutes left in the half, Franklin was down 27-14.
Franklin woke up as Curry buried a three in nothing but net. The Knights outscored the Yellow Jackets 12- 6 in the final four minutes of the half and took positive momentum into the locker room despite not having the lead ... yet.
As if they heard the directive from one fan in the stands, Franklin knew "they got to win the third and they got to win the fourth." And so they did.
Girard struck first in the second half with a quick layup by Ryan Carr. Franklin quickly answered as Dreyden Payne scored his first two points of the night. Godoy recorded another two for Girard and it was 31-37 in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
"It was a game of runs," Curry said after the game. And it was Franklin's turn to have a run for the next four minutes
The Knights stayed aggressive on offense - making fast long passes and dribbling hard to the basket.
Franklin head coach Jason Fulmer said the turning point for the team was a pass play to beat the full court press and score a quick layup.
"It was just a simple one and the lightbulb went off for me," He said. "I was like ‘that’s it.’ We’ve got to remember that. That’s the moment that we got into attacking rather than retreating."
The result was a 13-point run that put them in possession of the lead. Jalen Wood kicked things off with a reverse layup. Dreyden Payne hit two from the foul line. Curry hit two off an assist from Wood, tied the game but missed the plus one. Dreyden Payne made another two. Then Wood hit nothing but net on a trey. Following a steal by Findlan and a bungled pass by the Knights, Buckley grabbed a defensive rebound and later hit for two.
With 3:08 left in the third, Franklin was winning 44-37. Their switch to a zone defense was doing the trick.
With a bucket by Dell'omo, Girard ended the run but Franklin was clearly on a roll. Damarco Payne hit his second three of the night. Shortly after, Findlan went to the line to earn two as Girard had five fouls on the quarter. Dell'omo answered for Girard again. As did Buckley, who this time went coast-to-coast to get his two.
Godoy finished the quarter with two more for the Yellow Jackets, but Franklin held on to a 51-45 lead after 24 minutes of play.
The fourth quarter was defense-heavy again. Girard was able to pull within two as the score sat at 53-51 with only 5:30 left to play. Godoy went to the bench with his fourth foul with a little more than four minutes to go. Buckley had it a two-possession game with a field goal at 3:30 and Franklin was fully in the driver's seat.
Franklin passed the ball around on offense and made Girard come and get them to stop the clock. The final With 1:30 left, Girard missed a shot and Franklin grabbed the rebound. It was only a matter of time and fouls before the Knights took turns at the line. Franklin went nine for 10 from the line in the closing minute of the contest and were able to surrender two more baskets to Girard without flinching.
With 1.4 seconds left in the game, Wood took the line for two of those foul shots as chocolates were already being thrown onto the court.
"At that point, we are up seven with two seconds, it doesn't matter what happens here, but I'm going to knock 'em down like a little Hershey kiss of the top (of the game)," Wood said of the moment. He did just that and Franklin won 64-55.
It was a victory made a little sweeter in little of Franklin's earlier loss to Girard in the District 10 championships, also held at Edinboro.
"It fueled the fire, the hunger," Franklin head coach Jason Fulmer said of this team's heartbreak in the D10 finals. In that game, Franklin was the top seed, on Tuesday Girard held that spot. "We flipped it. We put the bullseye on them," Fulmer said.
"We knew it was going to be a dog fight and we knew we had time to grind, grind, grind," Buckley said. "Last time we just made too many mistakes. This time we cleaned it up and we got the job done."
"I've waited a long, long time," Fulmer said of the trip to Hershey. It is the Knight's first return to the PIAA championship since they won in 2006, according to local sports historian Penny Weichel. Franklin also won in 2001.
"There's only two of them up there," Fulmer said of Franklin's championship banners for boys basketball. "We've had our eyes set on it for quite a while."
According to Buckley, he and his seven fellow seniors have been working toward the state championships since elementary school. "We've worked all our lives for this. I remember there were times in sixth grade when we would tell each other 'hey, we are going to go to Hershey'," he said. "And to finally do it, I don't even know how to describe it."
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