Knights cage Cardinals in boys basketball

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.