Defense carries Franklin past Monroe

A 66-32 win has Wildcats at 3-0, 2-0 in SWBL play.

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By Rick Cassano, Staff Writer 2:35 AM Saturday, December 10, 2011

MONROE — It’s officially a flying start.

Franklin High School’s boys basketball team entered the season with soaring expectations and might be exceeding them, reeling off three decisive victories on the road.

“It’s been blessed,” senior forward Eli Staton said Friday night after the Wildcats blistered Monroe 66-32 in Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division play. “We like to share the ball, but defense is what we hang our hat on. It’s all about the team.”

Franklin coach Brian Bales has been preaching defense and his players seem to be listening. It doesn’t matter if it’s half court, three-quarter court or the whole floor. The defensive pace is generally frantic.

The Wildcats forced the hosts into 24 turnovers and 27.1-percent shooting, storming to an 18-2 lead in just over five minutes.

“We came out with a sense of urgency on defense,” Bales said. “If these guys keep bringing it like that, they’ve got a chance to be successful a lot of nights. If full-court pressure doesn’t get a turnover, they know they have to get after it in the half court. They’re really buying into that.”

Monroe coach Casey Popplewell said Franklin brought a little different look on defense than he expected, but he didn’t use that as an excuse. Indeed, the Hornets looked frazzled against practically everything the Wildcats did.

“We told the kids how good they were and how bad they would want to beat us,” Popplewell said. “They’re really, really good. They’re going to beat a lot of good teams this season. The good news for us is, we don’t have to play them again for two months. We’ve had a tough road to hoe to start the season, but we’re going to be better for it.”

Luke Kennard (22), Staton (11), Justin Rossi (10) and Jacob Rossi (10) all scored in double digits for Franklin, 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the SWBL Southwestern Division. Kennard had 18 points in the first half, outscoring Monroe by one.

“He’s a special, special player,” Popplewell said of Kennard, the highly regarded freshman guard who also collected seven rebounds and six assists. “He plays the game the right way.”

Staton and Jacob Rossi each grabbed nine boards, while teammate Travis Lakins added eight points, seven steals and three assists.

Marc Hunt led the Hornets (0-3, 0-2) with 14 points and five rebounds. Scott Rupp had eight points and six caroms.

“After they beat us last year, we really wanted to come out and show them that we’re the better team,” Staton said. “It started with defense.”

Bales said everything’s been positive thus far in 2011-12. He praised the boisterous FHS fans that followed the team to Monroe and his veteran players.

“We have great senior leadership,” Bales said. “They really have a team-first mind-set.”

Both squads return to action Tuesday. The Wildcats will have their home opener against Carlisle, while the Hornets visit Eaton.

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