Franklin Regional notebook: Panthers miss playoffs on tiebreaker

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, February 19, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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The Franklin Regional boys basketball team needed a win in its final Section 3-5A game of the season to get into the WPIAL playoffs, but neighboring Gateway spoiled the Panthers’ plans.

Gateway won, 57-36, to send the Panthers into a three-way tie for third place in the section. The top four in each section qualified.

McKeesport and Woodland Hills were tied with Franklin Regional (7-13, 5-7), but only Woodland Hills advanced because it had a 3-1 record against the other tied teams.

“We turned the ball over a lot in the first half and gave them a ton of offensive rebounds,” Panthers’ first-year coach Jesse Reed said. “You’re taking possessions away from yourself and at the same time giving them more opportunities. No matter how good you shoot it, and we shot it poorly, or how you defend, if you give teams second attempts, it’s hard to maintain and stay in the game. Hats off to them. They played really well, shot well and defended well. They took it to us.”

The Panthers didn’t score for the first five-plus minutes.

Franklin Regional had made seven straight trips to the playoffs, including last year when all teams were eligible.

“It was a good team effort defensively, and that’s what we stressed, especially in practice yesterday,” Gateway coach Alvis Rogers said. “The old saying is ‘defense wins championships,’ and that’s what we’re after is a championship. They took what they did yesterday in practice and applied it today, especially in the second quarter. We got some steals and shut them down.”

Jackson moves up

With two wins and a runner-up finish in his last four tournaments, Palmer Jackson moved to No. 47 in the World Amateur Rankings, up 18 spots from No. 65.

Jackson, a junior at Notre Dame and a Franklin Regional alum, recently won the Jones Cup Invitational amd Jackson T. Stephens Cup. He was second at the Patriot All-America Invitational.

College scene

Checking in on Franklin Regional graduates playing at the college level:

Men’s basketball

La Roche: Freshman Kadyn Hannah was named the AMCC Athlete of the Week after playing well in a pair of wins. He tallied 32 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Alfred State and added 17 points and nine rebounds against Mt. Aloysius.

Women’s swimming

Westminster: Junior Baylee Horvath (Franklin Regional) swam a leg of the second-place 800-yard freestyle relay at the PAC Championships. The team touched the wall in 8:13.30. Horvath also was a member of the third-place 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.05.

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

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