Boys hoop loses thrilling battle with No. 3 Franklin

The CHS boys basketball team went toe to toe with league-leading Franklin Monday night and came within five points of upsetting the Panthers in an eventual 59-54 defeat.

Franklin is now 10-1 and leads the Kelley-Rex Division while ranking third in Division 2 as of January 12. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are ranked 17th and currently sit in second place in the Davenport Division at 7-3 overall. Several other Hockomock schools are also firmly in the playoff mix, including fourth-ranked Sharon and fifth-ranked Mansfield, with Stoughton and Milford joining Canton in the bottom half of the Division 2 top 20.

Senior Zaza Francoeur (Mike Tureski photo)

Monday’s game in Masciarelli Gym was a treat for basketball fans as both teams played terrific defense and traded leads throughout the game. The Bulldogs led 14-4 after one quarter but the Panthers stormed back and trailed by only one at the half. Both teams played each other even in the third quarter and continued to trade baskets for much of the fourth.

With only two minutes remaining and the Bulldogs trailing, Jamaal McConnell hit a tough jumper to tie the game at 52. But Canton was in foul trouble and Franklin took advantage, hitting five three throws to ice the game.

Both head coaches agreed that outside shooting was the difference for Franklin, with Henry DiGiorgio (19) and Caden Sullivan (15) both hitting a high percentage of outside shots. Meanwhile, Canton’s Jeremiah Predin did a great job in containing reigning league MVP Sean O’Leary, who was held to only six points in the contest.

Franklin coach CJ Neely said Predin’s defensive performance was the toughest to date on O’Leary.

McConnell was Canton’s leading scorer with 19 points while playing an excellent point guard and rebounding well. Zaza Francoeur scored 14 points and also had a strong game defensively and on the boards. Owen Lane scored six points on three excellent drives, and JJ Faulk, Anthony Diletizia and Elias Palacios all played well for the Bulldogs.

“I knew this was going to be a tough challenge for us,” said Neely. “Canton gave us all we could handle. We had to work hard for all of our baskets. I know [CHS coach Dan Kizer] very well. He is a good coach and he had them prepared.”

Kizer said he was proud of all players for playing hard against a tough opponent. “But against a team like Franklin, you can’t have any lapses,” he said. “You can’t play well for 29 or 30 minutes. It has to be the entire 32 minutes.”

In their other two games last week, the Bulldogs were impressive as they recorded key league wins over Milford (77-71) and Oliver Ames (62-57).

In the Milford game, the Bulldogs led by as many as 17 points but the Hawks made it interesting down the stretch, cutting the deficit to three before Canton put it away with key baskets by Diletizia, Predin and Francoeur. Predin finished with a career-high 23 points in the win while Francoeur and Diletizia added 17 points apiece.

Against OA Friday night, the Bulldogs started strong but found themselves trailing by as many as nine midway through the fourth quarter before turning things around in the final five minutes.

McConnell scored nine of his 14 points in the final frame, and Predin also had several big plays to fuel the comeback, finishing with a team-high 21 points. Free throws by Owen Lane and a steal and dunk by Francoeur with 10 seconds left sealed the win for the Bulldogs.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=122029

Posted by Mike Berger on Jan 19 2024. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.