Franklin Regional boys top Shaler, move into 2nd place

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, February 5, 2019 | 10:21 PM

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Franklin Regional learned another valuable lesson, and it happened on Teacher’s Appreciation Night nonetheless.

“We have to finish plays, keep busting our butts and come back stronger … and that will help us get a good seed for the playoffs,” senior forward Adam Rudzinski said.

Still reeling some from a recent loss to Plum, Franklin Regional has regrouped for back-to-back Section 3-5A wins, the latter coming Tuesday night when the Panthers pushed past visiting Shaler, 57-49.

Franklin Regional held the Titans to one field goal and six points in the fourth quarter.

“We’re tough kids and come out and play hard when we need to,” Rudzinski said. “Last Friday helped us out with a big win over Indiana and tonight helped us beat a great team that is going to do well in the playoffs.”

Franklin Regional (15-6, 10-3) took over second place in the section with one section game remaining. Shaler moved to 14-6, 9-4.

The Panthers had lost two of their last three games, including the 54-49 upset against Plum that knocked them from the Trib top-five rankings.

The bad taste is all but gone as they regroup.

“We gave one away to Plum,” Franklin Regional coach Steve Scorpion said. “It brought us back down to reality. It gave us, as coaches, an opportunity to get back to what needed to do. The kids really responded, and we had a couple physical practices. It showed against Indiana, and it showed, for the most part, tonight.”

Nick Leopold, who had a big game against the Titans earlier in the season, tied a game high with 14 points, including 10 in the second half.

Rudzinski scored eight points.

Shaler, which had won five of its last six games, came in averaging 69.2 points. The Titans played without one of its leading scorers Justin Desabato (17 ppg), who injured his ankle in a recent practice.

But the Titans weren’t making excuses.

“Second-chance points and turnovers were the difference tonight,” Shaler coach Rob Niederberger said. “Franklin does a nice job of running sets and mixing things up. Once they run sets, it changes what we do on defense.”

The Titans used a triangle-and-2 defense on Leopold and Thomas Merante, but only for a short time.

The Panthers pulled ahead in the fourth, using steals to set up scores and then settling into a halfcourt offense to drain the clock.

A steal by Merante set up Rudzinski’s layup and Leopold’s teal allowed the Panthers to pull the ball out and use some more seconds.

Leopold made two free throws to make it 53-45 with 1:56 to play.

The Panthers made 8 of 13 free throws in the fourth to pad their advantage.

“Every game is a playoff game,” Scorpion said. “If we get that playoff mentality in our heads now, we’ll treat every day and every game differently.”

Matt Bendel finished with 12 points for Shaler.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Shaler