Connersville handed Class 3A state champion Crispus Attucks its 1st defeat, Richmond outlasted Portage in overtime, and Cathedral and Tindley also advanced to Friday's semifinals. Jesus Jimenez/Palladium-Item
RICHMOND, Ind. – As James Franklin regained consciousness, his cousin Armaan Franklin heard the first words out of his mouth: Did we score on the play?
Anybody who just sacrificed his body for his team would want to know.
But this wasn’t just any other athlete diving for a loose ball. This was James Franklin, a junior on Cathedral High School’s basketball team who has suffered with epilepsy his entire life.
This past August, his family made the life-changing decision to have surgery that removed half of the right side of his brain.
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RELATED: State champions advance in #Wettig17
Updates from #Wettig17 tournament
FROM FEBRUARY: How James Franklin battles through
“From birth, he had a stroke at birth and that’s what started the seizures,” Cathedral head coach Jason Delaney said. “They had told his parents that he had 24 hours to live, and he survived all that. The seizures got worse last year, so they decided to do a pretty drastic decision. He had those two brain surgeries in August.”
With James working his way back to full strength, Cathedral made the trip to Richmond High School’s Tiernan Center for the 11th annual Bob Wettig Memorial Tournament. Just like his teammates have grown accustomed to seeing, James Franklin was doing everything in his power to keep a ball in play when he ran into a wall. He lost consciousness and was taken to a local hospital, before returning to Indianapolis.
“He had played all year and was getting better and better,” Delaney said. “Unfortunately, he was playing really well (Wednesday) and that happened. The kid’s caught a lot of bad breaks.”
So, what exactly happened?
“He saved (the ball from going out of bounds),” said Indiana All-Star candidate Jarron Coleman, a Ball State commit who is also cousins with Armaan and James. “Me and Armaan took off from the fast break. We heard him hit the table, so we just thought he just ran into the table or something.”
During Cathedral’s 63-50 victory over Dayton Belmont, James dove to keep a ball in play, but his momentum sent him out of bounds.
An official’s table sits on the corner of the Tiernan Center gym and James jumped over the table and into a wall.
James got up, but lost consciousness soon after.
“He tipped it from the line and the ball was going out of bounds,” Armaan said. “He saved it, there’s a table right there, he tried to jump over the table – and actually cleared it – but he hit his foot on the back and hit the wall.
“His adrenaline was going. He hopped up for a couple of seconds to see the end of the play, and he just passed out.”
Later Wednesday, James Franklin tweeted out an update: “Thanks for the prayers everyone, everything came back normal.”
He’s doing well, but not well enough to play basketball, or even be in a gym.
“He can’t (be with the team) right now, because of the concussion, can’t be in the gym and the bright lights and all that,” Delaney said.
James was released from the local hospital and returned to St. Vincent Sports Performance, where he was diagnosed with a concussion.
He is following concussion protocol and will be evaulated next Wednesday.
“When it first happened, we were all scared,” Armaan said. “The brain surgeries he had over the summer, we didn’t know if it was that side of the brain he had it on. We just prayed for him, and today we played for him. He sacrificed his body to get us the ball. The first thing he said when he woke up was, ‘Did we get the ball? Did we score off the play?’ It just shows the dedication that he has.”
Cathedral is ranked 10th in the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 poll and Delaney has won two state championships: one in 2004 with Waldron, and one with Arsenal Tech in 2014.
If the Irish didn’t have enough motivation entering the Wettig Tournament, they have more: Win this for James.
“The best way to honor a teammate that’s hurt is to embody everything that they bring to the table,” Delaney said. “He plays hard, he’s fierce, he gives everything he has. He just keeps going, and so the best thing that we could’ve done (Thursday) was just keep going.”
Coleman and Armaan Franklin each scored 29 points as Cathedral held off an impressive Shelbyville team to rally for a 68-63 victory Thursday.
James scored nine before leaving Wednesday morning’s game and averages 7.5 per game.
He also averages 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game – and he’ll do anything for his team.
And the irish wouldn't have it any other way.
"We don’t treat him special, it’s what he’s supposed to do, he’s one of the leaders on the team. He’s not going to stop," Coleman said.
“You let him be himself. Don’t change the way he is just because he had the surgery. If he doesn’t change it, we don’t change it.”
The Irish (8-1) play Connersville (9-1) in the noon semifinal Friday after the Spartans knocked off reigning Class 3A state champion Crispus Attucks. The Wettig championship is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
By the way, James’ sacrifice did not go for naught.
“Armaan got the and-1,” Coleman said.
And the Irish have him on their minds Friday.
Jesus Jimenez is a sports reporter for the Palladium-Item in Richmond. Contact him at (765) 973-4465, jjimenez@pal-item.com, or http://Twitter.com/JesusFJimenezPI. Follow him for coverage of the Bob Wettig Tournament through Friday.
BOB WETTIG TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
- Game 1: Shelbyville 68, Lighthouse South 56. Shelbyville: Sam Lewis 17, Zach Kuhn 16, Bruce Blackwell 13. Lighthouse South: Donetz Rayner 31, Ajan Smith 13, Jeremy Henderson 10.
- Game 2: IBCA No. 10 Cathedral 63, Dayton Belmont 50. Cathedral: Armaan Franklin 29, Jarron Coleman 11. Dayton Belmont: Kendall Moore 15, Phillip Harewood 13, Jadon Furlow 13.
- Game 3: Class 3A No. 1 Crispus Attucks 61, South Bend Adams 44. Crispus Attucks: Derrick Briscoe 14, Jamal Harris 13. South Bend Adams: Shakell Johnson 14, Benjamin Foster 13.
- Game 4: Connersville 54, Northwest HomeSchool 36. Connersville: Garrett Silcott 13, Noah Belt 11; Northwest: Brandon Winchester 13.
- Game 5: Park Tudor 65, Franklin Central 45. Park Tudor: Isiah Moore 14, Ronald Johnson 13, Micah Moore 12; Franklin Central: Alan Cox 12, Nick Hall 10.
- Game 6: Class A No. 2 Tindley 93, Class 3A No. 4 Greensburg 70. Tindley: Eric Hunter 29, Sincere McMahon 25, Joseph Johnson 13, Andrew Knox 10; Greensburg: Lane Sparks 24, Drew Comer 20, Mason McLeod 10.
- Game 7: Richmond 73, Indianapolis HomeSchool 65. Richmond: Christian Harvey 29, Rickie Wedlow 22. HomeSchool: Luke Ruddle 24, Mitchell Wirts 19.
- Game 8: Portage 55, Seton Catholic 43. Portage: Maurion Martin 24, Noah Penrose 11, Jacobie Sims 10. Seton Catholic: Zach Rogers 13, Nick Berger 11.
- Game 9: Dayton Belmont 60, Lighthouse South 50. Dayton Belmont: Jadon Furlow 16, Phil Harewood 13, Latrell Estes 12, Kendall More 10. Lighthouse South: Dontez Rayner 22, Jeremy Henderson 13, Ajani Smith 12.
- Game 10: South Bend Adams 48, Northwest HomeSchool 40. South Bend Adams: Shakell Johnson 17, Alec Breiler 10. Northwest: Ryan Segall 9, Brandon Winchester 9.
- Game 11: Class 3A No. 4 Greensburg 77, Franklin Central 65. Greensburg: Drew Comer 31, Andrew Welage 26. Franklin Central: Isiah Morgan 14, Nick Hall 13, Mason Gonzales 11.
- Game 12: Indianapolis HomeSchool 69, Seton Catholic 38. Indianapolis HomeSchool: Mitchell Wirts 18, Noah Shook 16, Myles Johnson 15, Jake Rosko 12. Seton Catholic: Sam Brenneke 17.
- Game 13: Cathedral 68, Shelbyville 63. Cathedral: Armaan Franklin 29, Jarron Coleman 29. Shelbyville: Josh Williams 20, Zach Kuhn 17, Travis Hartwell 12.
- Game 14: Connersville 58, Crispus Attucks 51. Connersville: Garrett Silcott 22, Jacob Brown 13. Crispus Attucks: Harold Bennett 24.
- Game 15: Class A No. 2 Tindley 60, Park Tudor 36. Tindley: Eric Hunter 30, Sincere McMahon 12, KJ Coleman 11. Park Tudor: Ronald Johnson 15.
- Game 16: Richmond 56, Portage 52, overtime. Richmond: Christian Harvey 29, Rickie Wedlow 10, Kei'Shaun Clemons 10. Portage: Maurion Martin 23, Greg Milledge 15.
- Game 17: Lighthouse South 66, Northwest HomeSchool 60. Lighthouse South: Ajani Smith 25, Jeremy Henderson 15, Donetz Rayner 14. Northwest HomeSchool: Austin Winchester 19, Ryan Segall 11, Drew Thorton 10.
- Game 18: Franklin Central 58, Seton Catholic 46. Franklin Central: Isiah Morgan 16, Jace Waltz 10. Seton Catholic: Zach Rogers 18.
- Game 19: Shelbyville (6-4) vs. Crispus Attucks (7-1), 9:30 a.m. Friday (at IU East)
- Game 20: Park Tudor (2-5) vs. Portage (4-4), 11 a.m. Friday (at IU East).
- Game 21: Indianapolis HomeSchool (9-7) vs. South Bend Adams (4-5)*, 9:30 a.m. Friday
- Game 22: Class 3A No. 4 Greensburg 63, Indianapolis HomeSchool 62*. Greensburg: Drew Comer 20, Andrew Welage 13, Lane Sparks 11. Indianapolis HomeSchool: Myles Johnson 23, Jake Rosko 12, Noah Shook 11, Mitchell Wirts 10.
- Game 23: Cathedral (8-1) vs. Connersville (9-1), 12 p.m. Friday, Semifinal
- Game 24: Tindley (9-1) vs. Richmond (4-5), 1:30 p.m. Friday, Semifinal
- Game 25: Northwest HomeSchool vs. Seton Catholic (3-9), 12 p.m. Friday (at IU East), 15th place
- Game 26: Game 19 loser vs. Game 20 loser, 5 p.m. Friday (at IU East), 7th place
- Game 27: Lighthouse South (3-5) vs. Franklin Central (3-7), 2 p.m. Friday (at IU East), 13th place
- Game 28: Game 19 winner vs. Game 20 winner, 4:30 p.m. Friday, 5th place
- Game 29: Game 21 loser vs. Indianapolis HomeSchool (9-8), 3:30 p.m. Friday (at IU East), 11th place
- Game 30: South Bend Adams vs. Greensburg (9-1)*, 3 p.m. Friday, 9th place
- Game 31: Game 23 loser vs. Game 24 loser, 6 p.m. Friday, 3rd place)
- Game 32: Game 23 winner vs. Game 24 winner, 7:30 p.m., championship
* - Pool Play will determine 9th place
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