On paper, Tuesday night's matchup between the Canton and Franklin boys basketball teams should have been a playoff-type game for bragging rights between the top two teams in the Hockomock League. Instead, it was anything but.
FRANKLIN — On paper, Tuesday night's matchup between the Canton and Franklin boys basketball teams should have been a playoff-type game for bragging rights between the top two teams in the Hockomock League.
Instead, it was anything but.
The divisional crossover matchup turned into the Chris Edgehill (22 points) and Jalen Samuels (21 points) show as the Panthers waltzed to a 74-46 blowout victory.
The win is Franklin's 10th in a row, putting the Kelley-Rex Division-leading Panthers at 11-1. Canton falls to 9-2 but still sits atop the Davenport Division.
"They upset us in their gym last year and kind of stole the [overall] Hock title from us, so we looked at it as a bit of a revenge game tonight," said Samuels.
Leading 33-16 at halftime, Franklin stayed on the gas in the third and fourth quarters, outscoring the Bulldogs 41-30.
A rebound by Jack Rodgers (10 points, 8 rebounds) with 6:20 left in the third quickly turned into a fast-break layup for Paul Mahon to push the Panthers’ lead to 37-18. With 5:20 to go, a hard drive and finish by Mahon pushed the lead to 41-20. Canton crept back in a bit, cutting it to 43-30, but a 5-0 run capped off by a thunderous two-hand dunk by Samuels on the fast break put Franklin up 48-30 with two minutes left in the third.
A running hook by Rodgers pushed it to 54-34 with under 30 seconds left, and then Edgehill closed the quarter with his best Steph Curry impression, dribbling over half court and calmly pulling up for a deep 3-pointer that hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded, making it 57-36 heading to the fourth.
"This was a great statement game for us," said Edgehill. "This type of win shows something real to the rest of the Hockomock League and the rest of the state."
The final eight minutes were simply a formality but Franklin continued to make it look easy. A spin and pretty finish down low by Samuels with 5:15 left in the game made it 63-40, capping the junior's big night as he was soon pulled.
A one-handed fast break dunk by Rodgers with 3:33 left pushed the lead to 70-44, and was quite an exclamation point for the Panthers and the large crowd on hand.
"Jalen and Chris are incredible players," Franklin coach CJ Neely said. "They give us a huge lift with their scoring ability, but the defensive effort from everyone — some of the guys that don't always get recognized — that's what makes us what we are. We have the guys who are used to hearing their names and being under the bright lights, but the guys doing all the other dirty work, everyone playing as a unit, that's what makes us a tough team to beat."
Franklin was able to turn an 11-point lead after the first quarter into the 17-point lead at halftime.
After a Canton 3-pointer cut it to 19-11, Franklin went on a small 6-1 run to push the lead to 25-12. A low-post move and finish by Samuels made it 21-12 with 4:30 left in the half before a steal by Matt Elias (10 points) and finish by Samuels made it 23-12. An Edgehill steal then turned into an easy fast-break layup for Rodgers, making it 25-12 with 3:25 left.
Canton made it 26-16 with 2:17 to go, but a finger roll in the lane by Edgehill and two free throws on the next possession pushed the lead up to 30-16. Just before the first half buzzer sounded, Rodgers was able to hit a big 3-pointer, making it 33-16 as the teams headed to the locker room.
Canton actually jumped out to a brief 5-1 lead, but the Panthers soon clawed back and a layup by Edgehill with 5:12 left in the first gave Franklin its first lead at 7-5. A layup by Samuels made it 9-5, and moments later a baseline drive and layup by Elias pushed it to 11-6. With 1:45 to go another Samuels layup made it 15-6 before a late bucket gave Franklin a 17-6 lead.