Franklin 55 Meadville 41

You can only imagine the shock I experienced as I gazed upon The House of Thrills concession menu. No Hot Dogs? Needless to say, no Thrills here. Apparently you need a license to sell dogs but not popcorn or candy, hmmm, you learn something every day. The only saving grace was that I learned the stand is completely run by the Student Council and for that I give them kudos and a short stint as #2 in my rankings.

It was difficult to concentrate on the game without my normal game time fuel dog but I tried. Meadville's James Ness got the first bucket of the game to take a 2-0 lead but that was about it for the Bulldog's. Franklin's press started forcing turnovers and Knight's point guard, Eric Caffrey, was diving all over the place but his floor burns turned into points for teammate Tim Maleski. Tim scored 6 of Franklin's 14 first quarter points to lead 14-10 after the first frame.

Meadville got the first two points of the second quarter but much like the first quarter Franklin took over and outscored the Bulldog's 12-7 the rest of the way giving them a halftime lead 26-19. Eric Caffrey led the frame with five points.

The third quarter stated like the first two with Meadville scoring first on a bucket by Ray Hamilton while drawing to within 5 of the Knight's 26-21. Tony Phillips scored 6 of his game high 15 points in this period but Tim Maleski matched his 6 and Bryan Smith added 5 as the Franklin squad once again won the quarter 16-12 to build their lead to 42-31.

In that 3rd quarter Meadville actually started to make a run at the Knight's only to have it stalled due to turnovers and more floor burns for Franklin's Caffrey. The fourth quarter was a stall as Franklin became much more deliberate on offence to use some clock and at 3:42 to go the knight's took the clock down to 2:37 with the lead at 52-35. Final Score: Franklin 55 Meadville 41.

Observations: Franklin played with high energy and their play was very disciplined. It is clear that coach Hagar has this team going in the right direction. I was impressed with this win over a much larger team. Caffery 13 points, Maleski 12, and Smith 10 for the Knights.

Meadville has some big boys. They started 3 players at 6'5'' or taller. I enjoyed watching James Ness battle on the boards all evening. I believe coach Price may have a team to be dealt with as this season proceeds. Tony Phillips had a game high 15 points for the Bulldog's and he was joined in double figures by Ness with 10.

Player of the Game: Eric Caffery of Franklin. This kid was horizontally air born at least 3 times tonight.

Pictures of the score book and the game can be viewed here:

http://www.bigskinnyonline.com/meadville_vs_franklin_pictures.htm