Andy Close
FRANKLIN, Pa. – Jalen Wood’s jumper with five seconds to play lifted Franklin to a 56-54 win over Warren in a matchup of two teams expected to compete for the Region 6 title.
See Wood’s game-winner courtesy of FHS Studios YouTube:
It was the region opener for both teams, and Wood’s late-game dramatics didn’t look like they would be necessary with Franklin (8-3 overall, 1-0 Region 6) holding a 52-42 lead with 3:14 to play.
Warren (10-2, 0-1) went on a 10-0 run that took just under two minutes, however, to tie the game with 1:18 to play.
After Brady Berdine knocked down two free throws at the 3:14 mark, Logan Crissey got a layup off a steal to make it 52-46 with 2:14 to go.
Another Dragon steal led to a Konnor Hoffman 3-point play with 1:45 to go.
After a Franklin miss, Crissey came down and knocked down a 3 with 1:18 to play to tie the game.
On the next Franklin possession, Wood was fouled and knocked down both shots to make it 54-52 with 46.8 seconds to go, but Berdine answered with a layup with 32 seconds left to tie the game, setting the stage for Wood’s game-winner.
Without no timeouts, Warren’s Tommy Nyquist put up a desperation heave as time expired, but it was off the mark.
Franklin, which was playing without leading-scorer Damon Curry, who is out with an injury, got a game-high 26 points from Cole Buckley, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Demarco Payne finished with 16 points for the Knights and Wood 10.
Berdine scored eight of his team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter for the Dragons, while Crissey had 18 and Braylon Barnes eight.
ROCKY GROVE 70, YOUNGSVILLE 34
YOUNGSVILLE, Pa. – Rocky Grove went on a 22-4 run in the first quarter and never looked back in a 70-34 non-region win over Youngsville.
Landen Carter connected for 23 points for Rocky Grove (8-5), while Noah Baughman had 21 and Schiffer Anderson 10 points and 10 assists and three steals.
Carter also had seven rebounds and five assists while Conner Ritchey had six steals and two blocks. As a team, the Orioles had 22 assists and 17 steals.
Nathan Lucks led Youngsville with 13 points and Rylan Benton netted eight.
