It was the lowest point total allowed by Franklin (9-1 overall, 4-0 Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division), a traditionally strong defensive team, this season. Its next-best performance came in holding Tri-County North to 43 points in the home opener.
“We wanted to get that taste out of our mouth from Saturday,” Franklin coach Brian Bales said. “That was a tough loss. We felt we played well enough to win. We came back and had a great practice and mentally got locked in yesterday, and there was one word I put on our board and that was ‘defend.’ Boy, we did that. We were locked in on the defensive end, and I’m just proud of the effort.”
The timing was key for the Wildcats, who travel to face Brookville (10-0, 5-0 SWBL Southwestern) on Friday in a matchup for sole possession of first place in the division. The Blue Devils boast the league’s stingiest defense, allowing just 35.1 points per game.
Franklin’s defense was dominant from the start Tuesday against Oakwood (6-5, 2-3).
After holding the Lumberjacks to three points on free throws in the second quarter, the Wildcats were able to pull away for a 25-10 halftime lead. Will Kercher had nine of his 12 first-half points that period and finished with 18 for the game, including five 3-pointers. He also had two steals.
“I thought the guys executed the game plan defensively, and to hold Oakwood to 10 points in the first half was special on our guys’ behalf,” Bales said. “Oakwood has some weapons, and that was the best team defense we’ve played all season.”
The Wildcats’ full-court pressure was one thing, but they also blocked four shots in the second quarter alone.
Franklin was able to turn Oakwood’s struggles on offense into transition points much of the game with Ryan Montgomery especially finding success breaking the Jacks’ zone defense in the first half to open up players like Kercher before getting to the hoop himself in the second half.
Montgomery had six points at halftime but finished with 18 points, a team-high eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. Andy Neff led Oakwood with 17 points, and Darren Rubin added 11.
“They blocked our shot four times, so then we got afraid and that affected us,” Lumberjacks coach Paul Stone said. “I don’t think we made any shots from the perimeter, so we went inside like we wanted to, had our shot blocked, didn’t shot fake like we were supposed to, and then that opens up transition points for them. We had to guard them man-to-man eventually, and that’s hard to do against them.”
Oakwood will travel to Bellbrook on Friday.
Oakwood 7-3-10-20—40
Franklin 8-17-21-18—64
OAKWOOD (6-5, 2-3 SWBL Southwestern): Brendan Talarczyk 0 2 2, Darren Rubin 3 2 11, Connor Dinkler 3 2 8, Mark Lauterbach 1 0 2, Andy Neff 6 4 17. Totals: 13-10-40
FRANKLIN (9-1, 4-0 SWBL Southwestern): Noah Kremer 2 2 6, Payton Knott 4 2 11, Will Kercher 5 3 18, Braden White 1 0 3, Cole Bundren 0 2 2, Ryan Montgomery 7 3 18, Jared Kinzer 1 0 2, Greg Wyatt 0 1 1, Konnor Black 1 0 3. Totals: 21-13-64
3-pointers: O 4 (Rubin 3, Neff), F 9 (Kercher 5, Knott, White, Montgomery, Black)
About the Author