WORCESTER – Head coach CJ Neely says it’s a whole new team with a totally different vibe, but the Franklin boys basketball program is just one win away from redemption.
A year removed from a crushing loss to Worcester North in the Div. 1 state final, the top-seeded Panthers (25-1) are headed back to Tsongas Center after running away from No. 4 Central Catholic in the fourth quarter for a 52-44 win in a Div. 1 state semifinal Monday night at Worcester State.
The Raiders (20-3) packed a heavy punch out of halftime with an 8-0 run and ended the third quarter dead-even with Franklin, but Caden Sullivan (nine rebounds, two steals) scored 15 of his game-high 20 points over the last 10 minutes, and defense locked in to allow just 11 points in that span to pull out the win.
Franklin, looking for its first state title, will play the winner of Tuesday’s semifinal between No. 3 Newton North and No. 7 Springfield Central in the final.
“We all love it,” Sullivan said. “We’re here for revenge, and we’re going to get it done no matter what it takes. … It’s been us 14 all year, it’ll be us 14 that last game, all 32 minutes. And we’re just going to stay together.”
Much of the first three quarters proved a back-and-forth, even with Franklin allowing just four points in the second quarter to enter the break with a 26-20 lead.
Joe Conlan (11 points, 6 rebounds) gave the Panthers a spark early with five first-quarter points, only for Elias Ynoa (14 points) and Javi Lopez (15 points, six rebounds) to lead a 16-13 frame for Central Catholic. After Jake Olmstead (seven points) anchored Franklin with a five-point burst to lead at the half, Ynoa started the third quarter with a pair of 3-pointers to even things up again.
Lopez cut to the rim for a layup and the lead, and Elkin Pena’s 3-pointer put the Raiders ahead after a Franklin response, 31-28.
Franklin called timeout after the 8-0 run, and that’s when Sullivan took over.
Twice he finished contested layups strong, and a free throw helped Franklin enter the fourth quarter tied at 36-36. He started the final frame with two more conversions in the paint, assisted on Justice Samuels’ (10 points, three steals, two blocks) layup, and the Panthers jumped ahead 44-37 with an 8-2 run.
“He’s the man,” Neely said. “He’s a fearless competitor. It seems like every postgame, I’m talking about how fearless he is, how hard he plays, how much he wants the ball, and he’s not afraid of any situation. And honestly, it trickles down to the rest of the guys.”
“Personally, I looked at Neely and I’m like, ‘We’ve got to stay composed, and we know we can do this,’” Sullivan added. “We’ve been in deep, hard situations like that before, and we knew we were going to come out hard. We just had to stay together, stay composed, and battle through it.”
The same smothering defense that limited Central Catholic to just four points in the second quarter showed up again to build a lead as large as 50-41 with 34 seconds left.
“It’s just incredible getting all five guys locked in on the defensive end,” Sullivan said. “Rotations, pressure, and we talk about having defense as our weapon. And today, it was.”
“Defense and rebounding, that’s what it’s been all year,” Neely added. “Our team has been built, made and trusted on defense – start to finish. … I told the guys, ‘If you want to do something special, you’ve got to do all the dirty work.’”