When it comes to his 1-2 punch at the guard position, Franklin coach Brian Bales doesn’t hesitate in putting senior Travis Lakins and sophomore Luke Kennard among the best that’s ever played for the Wildcats. He’ll get no argument from Valley View.

Kennard scored 32 points and Lakins 28 as Franklin swept the season series from Valley View with an 84-68 win Friday. The win kept the Wildcats atop the Southwestern Buckeye League’s Southwestern Division at 10-3 overall and 7-0 in the league.

“Those two, what people don’t realize is they get along so well off the court,” Bales said. “They may go down — and I don’t mean any disrespect to anyone who has played at Franklin — as one of the two best guard-combos that ever played at Franklin.”

They played perhaps their best basketball of the season during a 1:20 stretch in the third quarter. After a Zack Denny 3-pointer pulled Valley View within 38-33 with 6:15 left in the third quarter, Kennard and Lakins responded with 13 straight points. Kennard answered Denny with a 3-pointer and Lakins followed with a basket off a steal. After another Kennard score, Lakins and Kennard hit back-to-back 3-pointers.

Valley View pulled within 11 points with six minutes left, but Franklin responded with a 12-0 run to put the game away. The loss dropped the Spartans to 8-5 overall and 3-4 in the SWBL. Three of those losses were by five, four and one point. Those two losses by Franklin came by 35 points and 16.

“We knew coming over here … we knew how dangerous they could be,” Bales said. “I think our full-court press really was effective tonight. Not that we got so many turnovers, but I think it got the ball in guys’ hands we wanted it in.”

Denny, who entered averaging a SWBL-best 34.8 points, finished with 31. He struggled in the first half with shots that just missed. A Denny 3-pointer did give Valley View its only lead, an 8-6 advantage two minutes into the game. Cooper Nolte added 15 for the Spartans.

The Spartans, though, couldn’t match the offensive output of Kennard and Lakins. Kennard was averaging 27.8 and Lakins 17.3.