Franklin Regional boys sprint past Shaler and into the PIAA semifinals

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, March 15, 2024 | 10:46 PM

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If Franklin Regional isn’t sprinting up and down the floor, there is a good chance it isn’t winning basketball games.

Transition is the lifeblood of this Panthers team. A Panthers team that has two speeds: fast and turbo-fast.

“That’s when our guys are at their best,” coach Jesse Reed said. “When they can get out and run and use their instincts. That’s when they make plays.”

They found the fast lane again and outran another opponent to extend their season.

Using their patented transition game to relieve some tense moments — and a complementary halfcourt defense that kept good looks to a minimum — Franklin Regional held off Shaler, 63-51, in a Class 5A quarterfinal on Friday night at Gateway’s Henry J. Furrie Sports Complex.

The Panthers (26-3), who finished second in the WPIAL, will get a rematch with the team that beat them in the final. It will be Franklin Regional and Moon (26-3) in the semifinals Monday.

Moon beat Bethel Park, 62-51, in another west quarterfinal.

It was a fun night for the Panthers, who hadn’t been to the third round of the state tournament in 27 years.

A throng of fans made the short trip up Route 22 to follow some more of this new-found March Madness.

“We had to keep playing hard tonight,” said Panthers senior guard Cooper Rankin, who scored a team-high 23 points. “We wanted Moon again for sure. We’re not at our best when we’re stagnant and not pushing the ball.”

Shaler (25-4), which lost to Franklin Regional three times, including in the WPIAL semifinals, cut a 16-point lead down to four with 2 minutes, 28 seconds to play.

But the Panthers stopped the bleeding when Rankin came up with a steal and passed ahead to senior Colin Masten for a layup with 1:24 left.

“It was about composure,” Reed said. “Our guys made plays when they needed to. We weather the storm.”

Masten then added four straight free throws, and, suddenly, it was a 61-51 game with just under a minute remaining.

Shaler was making its first quarterfinal appearance since 2012 and just its second trip to this round in program history.

“It was a game of runs,” Shaler coach Rob Niederberger said. “There were swings. … We miss on one end, and they go down and score. Give them credit. It was a two-possession game with four minutes left.”

Shaler hadn’t strung together more than four straight points until the fourth when it put up eight straight, including a 3-pointer by senior Kaden Orga to make it 50-44.

Again, though, Rankin scored on a break to end the spurt.

Franklin Regional, meantime, had a 7-0 run in the second quarter and a 13-0 surge in the third, the latter to push the lead to 37-24.

Senior guard Cam Rowell was slow starting but scored nine of his 16 in the third.

Senior Connor Crossey added 10 points, including two 3s in the first half. Masten scored nine.

The Panthers made 21 of 29 free throws with Rowell converting 6 of 8 and Rankin 7 of 12.

Senior forward Brandon London did the heavy lifting for the Titans, scoring a game-high 26 points and pulling down 16 rebounds.

With guards often hounded on the perimeter, the Titans didn’t have many open options. London was a force, but the Titans’ next-best scorer was senior Keegan Smetanka with seven points.

“We wanted to make London’s catches tough,” Reed said. “We played tough defense and made it tough for their other guys to make plays.”

It was 13-13 after the first quarter, and the Panthers pulled into halftime with a 24-19 advantage.

Shaler’s last lead was 18-17 early in the second quarter.

“We were locked in tonight,” Masten said. “We knew (Shaler) wanted to get us back the way we want to get Moon back. London had a big game, but we stopped everyone else. We defended well, and that sparked our offense. We found a way to push the (tempo).”

Franklin Regional beat Shaler, 72-62, in double overtime during the regular season. It beat the Titans 68-40 in the WPIAL semis.

“We sputtered a little bit,” Niederberger said. “Franklin has length, and we weren’t moving on the perimeter. That affected us.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Shaler