SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The three-peat is just as sweet for the Franklin Knights.
Franklin (21-4) limited Oil City to just 21 points through three quarters en route to a 55-39 victory in the D10 Class 3A title game, their third win over the Oilers this season.
“Coming back and doing it for a third time, only one other team has done that in program history,” said Franklin’s Damon Curry, who finished with a game-high 20 points. “Just glad to be back here with these boys.”
See Curry’s full interview:
Franklin led wire-to-wire, overcoming a slow offensive start (they led 6-5 with 1:30 to go in the first quarter) by going on a 20-8 run to close the half.
Jalen Wood and Curry knocked down 3s during the run, while Cole Buckley had an old-school 3-point play.
The lead was 26-13 at halftime and never dipped below that 13-point margin in the second half.
“You can take all the records and throw them out the door,” said Franklin coach Jason Fulmer of the rivalry with the Oilers, coached by his brother, Bundy Fulmer. “That’s what makes high school basketball so much fun. I can’t say enough about my guys keeping their composure. Not looking past them, not being too confident, just coming out and being themselves.”
Curry, who surpassed 1,000 career points in Franklin’s semifinal win over Fairview, drilled a shot from half-court at the third-quarter buzzer to extend the lead to 42-21.
Dreyden Payne also scored four points in the third quarter and also helped limit the potent Oilers’ offensive attack.
“We just played as a team, meshed, and were able to get it rolling,” Payne said.
See Payne’s full interview:
It wasn’t easy as time for Franklin at times, as Curry and 6-7 big man Jonathon Leccia, who scored six points, dealt with early-season injuries as the Knights went into the new year at 5-4 after a Dec. 29 loss to Fairview.
They’ve won 16 in a row since.
“Ultimately, it made guys play out of their rolls and grow their role bigger,” Fulmer said. “Cole Buckley is a prime example of that. He was a role player through and through last year. It’s very hard to go get him to go score. But he’s such a great competitor. And that stretch he decided hey look, I gotta go score for us to go win and then ended up making us much much better.
Franklin’s Jonathon Leccia (22) goes up for a rebound. Photo by Tammy Curry.
“Yeah, I mean, and you know, guys off the bench, even younger guys that aren’t iin the rotation right now. But they’ve made jumps I could see their future, that they’re going to contribute next year. Now. Let’s say hey, look, you’re gonna be ready for next year. They’re gonna contribute next year. So as doom and gloom as it was in December at 5-4, it was probably a little bit of a blessing.”
Wood finished with 11 points for Franklin, while Payne added eight.
Jake Hornbeck had a strong game for Oil City (19-6), which was playing in a District 10 title game for the second consecutive season (they lost to Fairview in the 4A title game a year ago), finishing with 17 points, while Cam VanWormer had 11.
Both teams move on to the PIAA playoffs, beginning on Saturday, March 11. Franklin will play the No. 6 team from the WPIAL, Shady Side Academy, while Oil City will play WPIAL No. 4 Neshannock.
“We’re excited to them to drive two hours to Venango County and come to the castle,” Fulmer said. “It should be a good game. If we play like we have the past couple of games, I think we can go on a little bit of a run.”
FRANKLIN 55, OIL CITY 39
Score by Quarters
Oil City 5 8 8 18 – 39
Franklin 9 17 16 13 – 55
OIL CITY – 39
Connor Highfield 0 0-0 0, Ethen Knox 3 0-2-6, Jake Hornbeck 7 3-4-17, Cam VanWormer 2 6-6 11, Sayyid Donald 1 0-0-2, Gavin Stephens 0 0-0 0, Will McMahon 0 0-0 0, Matthew Ames 1 0-0 3, Jacob Teeter 0 0-0 0, Colin Liederbach 0 0-0 0, Ethan Plowman 0 0-0 0, Totals 14 9-12 39
FRANKLIN – 55
Ethan Owens 2 1-2 5, Cole Buckley 2 1-1 5, Jalen Wood 4 0-0 11, Jonathon Leccia 3 0-0 6, Damon Curry 8 0-0 20, Dreyden Payne 3 2-2 8, Gavin Eakin 0 0-0 0, Demarco Payne 0 0-0 0, Eathan Umbenhaur 0 0-0 0, Aiden McCracken 0 0-0 0, Totals 22 4-5 55.
Three-pointers: Oil City 2 (VanWormer, Ames); Franklin 7 (Curry 4, Wood 3)
CLASS 2A THIRD-PLACE
(2) CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS 59, (4) EISENHOWER 43
ERIE – A hot start and a strong finish helped Cambridge Springs secure a berth in the PIAA Tournament with a 59-43 win over Eisenhower in the District 10 Class 2A third-place game.
The Blue Devils outscored the Knights, 16-7, in both the first and fourth quarters. They also clamped down defensively on Eisenhower’s newest 1,000-point scorer, holding Wyatt Lookenhouse to just three points.
Offensively, four of the five CS players who scored reached double figures. The Blue Devils did most of their damage in the fourth quarter from the free-throw line. They had just a single field goal in the frame but went 14-19 from the charity stripe.
The Knights, meanwhile, shot just 3-10 from the line for the game.
Kyler Black had a team-high 17 points and was the only Eisenhower player in double digits. Kris Bunk had eight, and Kael Hunt had seven.
Parker Schmidt had a game-high 21 points to lead the Blue Devils. Ethan Counasse had 13 points, Josh Reisnhour had 11 points, and Owen Riley had 10.
Cambridge Springs advances to the PIAA Tournament and will play the District 9 runner-up. Otto-Eldred and Clarion-Limestone will meet for the D9 title on Saturday.
Basketball playoff coverage is sponsored in part by Olewine Financial Group.
CLASS 3A THIRD-PLACE
(7) SENECA 58, (4) FAIRVIEW 44
ERIE, Pa. – Seneca is going back to the PIAA playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Behind 23 points from Logan Kibbe, the Bobcats knocked off Fairview, 58-44 to advance to take the final bid from District 10 in the third-place game.
The two teams split their regular season meetings.
Seneca’s Evan Moffett tallied 17 points, as the Bobcats led by as many as 20 in the first half.
