MANSFIELD – With margin of victory being a hot topic in the MIAA circles for the power rankings, Franklin came into its annual boys basketball battle with Hockomock rival Mansfield averaging a 20.7 margin of victory along with an undefeated record.
The Hornets did everything they could to put a dent in both impressive numbers, but Franklin (15-0) escaped with a 54-47 victory in a game between top 10 programs behind the efforts of Caiden Sullivan and some stingy defense throughout.
Sullivan scored a game-high 27 points, including going 5-of-7 from three-point land in the first half to single-handedly end any thoughts of an upset for Mansfield (10-3) on its home court.
“He’s so damn good, he’s just efficient, ironically he is not shooting a super high percentage from the three-point line all season but he was 6-of-9 or 6-of-10 (in the game), but for a guy who is not shooting the ball tremendously well – he’s just a gamer,” said Mansfield head coach Michael Vaughan. “We knew he was going to give us his best game, it’s the type of kid he is going to show up in the biggest moments. He wasn’t going to allow his team to lose.”
The defensive dance started right out of the gates as neither team scored in the first 4:24 of the first quarter. But the teams tapped their way through the first eight minutes with Mansfield holding the one-point edge, 12-11.
The Rams extended early in the second to their largest lead of the game, 19-13, but Franklin battened down the defensive hatches and Sullivan snapped a three-pointer to give the Panthers a 22-20 lead with 1:45 remaining in the first half.
The Panthers posted a 12-1 run to close out the half and earned a 25-20 lead at the break.
“All season, defense has been our weapon and when we are doing our job and we are playing hard like we can – we can really shut teams down,” said Franklin head coach C.J. Neely. “We do a really good job at shutting the door even when our offensive isn’t cooking the way we want it to.”
Some halftime adjustments on defense for the Rams ignited a 7-0 run to start the third quarter as Riley Sigman came alive with 11 of his team-high 14 points while adding six rebounds. There were seven different lead changes in the third quarter, but Franklin held on to 39-36 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“We knew coming in how good defensively they were, and this might be the best defensive unit they’ve had in a long time and that’s saying a lot given the fact how good they’ve been defensively over the years,” said Vaughn.
But with the Panthers holding onto a one-point lead with 1:32 remaining in regulation after a Nate Creedon free throw for the Rams, Sullivan took over again.
When the Rams had a chance to tie things up on their next possession, Sullivan swiped a steal from behind and went the distance to pick up a huge foul as the Rams were in the bonus. Sullivan proceeded to go 5-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to give Franklin their largest lead – a nine-point margin – 54-45 in a hard-fought victory for the undefeated Panthers.
“I think we took some ill-advised early shots, nobody was getting good looks. But that’s a credit to (Mansfield) as they are a great defensive team and we both know each other so well,” said Neely. “Coming into Mansfield, you will take a win any way you can get it. But they make it tough on you …but otherwise I’m happy (Sullivan) was able to get the ball to the rim a little bit more, get to the free throw line and get some easy ones.”
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2025-01-29 21:27:22
