Revenge is as sweet as a Hershey kiss, Knights down Girard to advance

The Franklin Knights defeated the Girard Yellow Jackets 64-55 Tuesday night at PennWest - Edinboro to win the  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 Yellowjackets 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 falling.  

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 Girard's Nate Edwards, Kenny Godoy, and Geremia Dell'Omo. Then, like the second quarter of the D10 game, 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 unanswered points. 

Down by 12, the Knights started to regroup 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 held back the charge and scored four points of their own. With five minutes left in the half, Franklin was down 27-14. 

Franklin woke up as Curry buried a nothing but net three. The Knights outscored the Yellowjackets 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 the Knight's heard the directive from one fan in the stands who said, "they got to win the third and they got to win the fourth."

And so that is what they did.

Even though Girard struck first in the second half with a quick layup by Ryan Carr.  Dreyden Payne quickly answered with his first two points of the night. Godoy recorded another two for Girard.

"It was a game of runs," Curry aptly said after the game. When it was the Yellowjackets up 37-31 in the third it was then time for a big Franklin run to change the game around completely.

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 a 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 Yellowjackets, 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 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 made 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 have to foul them to stop the clock. At 1:30 left, Girard missed a shot and Franklin grabbed the rebound and found themselves back at the line. They Knights went nine for 10 from the line in the closing minute 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 given Franklin's earlier loss to Girard in the District 10 championships.

"It fueled the fire, the hunger," Fulmer said of this team's heartbreak in the D10 final. 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's website yardsandpoints.com.

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." ​​

What's Next:
​The Knights will play Devon Prep in the title tilt at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Giant Center in Hershey.

By the numbers.
How balanced is this team. Coach Fulmer says any one of his starters can score and take the team on their shoulders. Tuesday against Girard it was the whole team contributing equally. Curry led with 15, followed by Buckley with 14 and Wood with 13. The Payne brothers had 19 with Dreyden scoring one more than Demarco. Will Findlan had another solid showing off the bench contributing on defense and on the boards while adding four points of his own.

They said it:
"So a player in 95 with coach Hager, it's not about me, it's about the kids right,  but boy I was soul searching for one those(a trip to the finals), even for the opportunity..."  said Jason Fulmer. "It took us three to go over the hump in the Elite eight and I sure as hell hoping it wasn't going to take us three to get over the hump in the western finals."  Fulmer said he grew up under coach Bill Hager and he is excited to be back in the championship game hoping to add a new banner to the Castle wall.