“Oh man, it’s unbelievable,” said Wildcats senior Luke Kennard, who had 35 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. “But we’re not done yet. We’ve got to win the next one.”
The next one is a regional semifinal against Bellefontaine (16-9) on Thursday at 8 p.m.
Originally scheduled for Fairmont’s Trent Arena, the regional doubleheader has been moved to UD Arena (according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association website). Dunbar will play Columbus South at 5:30 p.m.
“Unreal. Exciting. We’re very fortunate, very blessed,” Franklin coach Brian Bales said. “Adversity reveals character, and we had adversity tonight. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s a dream. I don’t care if we won by one. It’s just great to win.”
Evan Crowe scored 12 points for the Wildcats (25-1), who shot 51.3 percent from the floor and made 19 of 24 free throws. Austin Doliboa added seven points and seven rebounds.
Shawnee (20-6) had a fearless attitude all night, but simply couldn’t make enough plays to get the job done after falling behind by 11 points in the third quarter.
“I knew we were going to play hard and really be a tough test for them, and it ended up being that way,” Braves coach Chris McGuire said. “A couple little stretches hurt us, but all in all, I couldn’t be more proud of a group of young men.”
Seth Gray put up 21 points and seven rebounds for Shawnee. The junior forward set the tone for the Braves’ gritty performance with eight first-period points.
“A lot of other teams probably come out like, ‘Oh, Luke Kennard,’ but we didn’t tell ourselves that,” Gray said. “We came out with fire. We played to the best of our ability.”
Franklin trailed only twice (13-12 and 15-14), yet converted just 3 of 16 shots beyond the arc. The Wildcats misfired on all 11 of their treys in the first half.
Things got particularly interesting when Kennard picked up his fourth foul with 54.6 seconds left in the third quarter. He went to the bench with Franklin leading 43-37.
With Kennard waving a towel at the huge crowd, the Wildcats opened the fourth period with a Doliboa driving layup. Matt Thompson then took a charge from Gray, giving him his fourth foul, and buried a 3-pointer 11 seconds later.
That made it 48-37, and it was 48-41 when Kennard came back in with 5:12 left. Shawnee could get no closer than five the rest of the way.
“That’s where they get credit,” McGuire said. “I thought the defensive intensity picked up for them, and I thought those role guys really did a great job defensively and then offensively executing during that stretch when (Kennard) was out.”
Bales loved the fact that his team stepped up with Kennard out of the game.
“Our kids could’ve dug a hole,” Bales said. “I was so proud of his leadership on the bench. We made a run, and you could feel the ground shaking out there.”
Kennard was happy to help, even if it meant doing some cheerleading.
“I have faith in those guys,” Kennard said. “I’ll do whatever I can to get the crowd going. I was pumped up. I was waving the towel around. I was into it.”
He scored nine points in the fourth period, sinking 7 of 8 foul shots in the last 3:23 (1o of 12 overall).
“I didn’t shoot it well, but it happens. Shooters can have off nights,” said Kennard, who was 1 of 8 from 3-point range and committed eight turnovers. “But you can’t let that affect your entire game. As a leader, you have to be able to make plays for other guys and just do what you can.”
“I think (Luke) would tell you it wasn’t one of his greatest nights offensively, but it was a lot of what they did to him,” Bales said. “When we needed him, he stepped up. That’s what big-time players do.”
McGuire said the Braves’ game plan was mostly executed very well.
“We wanted to limit (Kennard) at the line,” the SHS coach said. “We wanted to make him take tough shots, and we really wanted to eliminate good, open looks for his other guys.”
Jaden Greenwood tossed in 15 points for Shawnee, 10 in the fourth stanza, and added five rebounds. Andrew Tincher collected nine points and four assists.
Gray earned special praise from the opposing team.
“He’s a horse,” Bales said. “He’s a bad matchup for us. He’s 6-3, and we had a guard guarding him. He’s so strong and physical, and the way they use him in their motion, he screens and pops to the ball and posts up. We couldn’t handle him in there. He was a big reason we went zone. We played mostly zone the second half.”
Said Gray, who sank 8 of 11 field goals, “My teammates were setting good screens for me. I was just doing second cuts and hard cuts, I was getting in the post, and I made my shots.”
The Braves shot 46.3 percent from the field and 73.3 percent from the line.
“We knew this was going to be a grind,” Bales said. “We told our guys it’d be like going to the dentist. Not very much fun, but hopefully we come out OK.
“This team played us tougher than any team all year except for the team out of Nevada,” he added, with Las Vegas Bishop Gorman handing Franklin its lone loss 71-39. “(McGuire) does a heck of a job with the guys he has. They remind me a lot of us in the fact that their guys know their role.”
The Wildcats will take a 17-game winning streak into their game against Bellefontaine. The Chieftains thrashed Taft 78-53 and Dunbar defeated McNicholas 69-57 in Friday’s other district finals at UD.
Bellefontaine finished third in the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division behind champion Shawnee and Tecumseh. The Chieftains got swept by Shawnee (45-44 and 49-45).
The Braves are losing three seniors: Tincher, Greenwood and Caleb Potts. Shawnee was seeking its first district championship since 1977.
“We wanted to win the conference for the fourth straight year, and we wanted to win the sectional,” McGuire said. “A 20-win season … Shawnee hasn’t had many of those.
“It was one of the most successful seasons in our program’s history, and we set a new goal to win the district. We came up a little short, but these guys gave me everything they had all year.”
Shawnee 10-11-16-18—55
Franklin 12-14-17-19—62
SHAWNEE (20-6): Andrew Tincher 3 2 9; Seth Gray 8 5 21; David Barnett 2 0 4; Jaden Greenwood 4 4 15; Zach Avery 1 0 3; Nathan Bostick 1 0 3. Totals: 19-11-55.
FRANKLIN (25-1): Austin Doliboa 3 1 7; Jake Riddell 1 0 3; Luke Kennard 12 10 35; Evan Crowe 2 8 12; Matt Thompson 2 0 5. Totals: 20-19-62.
3-pters: S 6 (Greenwood 3, Tincher, Bostick, Avery), F 3 (Riddell, Kennard, Thompson)
About the Author