By Ryan Lanigan || HockomockSports.com Editor
LOWELL, Mass. — After splitting a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left that kept it a one-possession game, Franklin senior Caden Sullivan didn’t just want to ball — he needed it.
Sullivan got the ball off the inbounds and was immediately fouled. Despite all the pressure on his shoulders with the Panthers clinging to a one-point lead with 6.1 seconds left, the senior put the final touches on a masterpiece by sinking both.
Newton North’s rushed three from the corner was off the mark and Sullivan and the Franklin Panthers had their first-ever Division 1 state championship with a 55-52 win over the Tigers at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” said Franklin head coach CJ Neely. “The wait from Monday to today was the longest wait of my entire life. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, we’ve been here four times and this was a game I thought we were supposed to win, I thought we were the better team but that puts an extra level of pressure. You just want to get out here and play. Credit to these guys, to be back here again after last year after all of the guys we lost. I’m just so ecstatic, it’s hard to put into words.”
Sullivan scored a game-high 31 points to go along with eight rebounds, scoring 11 of Franklin’s 13 fourth quarter points to help the Panthers earn their first state title after coming up empty on its three previous trips, including last year.
“That’s just my teammates trusting me, and Coach Neely trusting me,” Sullivan said. “I knew that I didn’t think any of them could guard me and my teammates were saying to get me the ball in the huddle and I just had the most confidence to get downhill.
“This senior group…we’ve been through ups and downs together, we’ve lost a couple of friends [Nick Gaspar and Anthony Gates]. We’ve been through so much together, so it was our way of doing it for them. I’m just at a loss for words. I’m just proud of every single one of them on this team.”
As expected, it played out as a defensive battle between two like-minded teams. After the teams combined for 34 points (split evenly) in the first quarter, only Newton North scored 15 or more points in another frame (the fourth).
“It really does [make it more special],” Neely said of winning it this year after falling short last year. “I hate to be a doubter of my own team but I didn’t think we were winning a state championship coming into this year. I knew we had a good team. It seems like every year there’s one team, like Worcester North last year, that’s a juggernaut. So even if you have the best team you’ve ever had, which we might have had last year, we come in and you run into a bandsaw like Worcester North and it’s like you guys had a great year, nothing to hang your head about. This year it was grit, toughness, defense, and we had a special motto with our defense that I can’t share and how these guys play for each other. It all starts up top with Caden and how he competes and he sets the tone. He builds up everyone else’s competitive level. That toughness, that grinding out wins all year long. We lost three league all stars leave and to come back and do it, I’m so proud of the team, and this being a team win.”
Holding a 42-37 lead to start the final frame, the Panthers got off to a strong start to extend the advantage. Sullivan had a nice spin move and kissed it off the glass for two and senior Wyatt Herndon’s offensive rebound turned into a tough double-clutch basket from junior Justice Samuels (six points, three blocks) off a feed from senior Jake Olmstead (11 points) as the lead quickly grew to nine, 46-37.
The Tigers, who had just one loss on the season coming into the game, refused to go without a fight. Teagan Swint cashed in on one of Newton North’s 19 offensive rebounds for two and Nicholas Spinelli cleaned up another miss for two.
Sullivan got to his left for a tough finish to keep some breathing room while Swint answered with two at the line to make it 48-46. It was Sullivan again, this time with a tough elbow jumper, and then after a drop on the defensive end, the senior soared in and converted a putback through contact to make it 52-46 with two minutes to go.
A pair of turnovers sandwiched around a miss ended up points for Newton North both times, the latter a fast break two-handed slam from Swint to make it 52-50 with ep seconds to go.
Sullivan missed the first but drained the second to keep the Panthers up three. Swint got to the line and sank two with 7.3 to go, but Sullivan quickly made himself available and was able to get to the line to ice it.
“I wanted it,” Sullivan said. “I wanted the ball in my hands at the end, no matter what the situation was. After I missed that first one, I just took a step back, and a deep breath, and blocked out all the noise. It was just me, the ball, and the hoop with a chance to ice it.”
Points were harder to come by in the second quarter. The Panthers’ defense limited Newton North to just eight points on 2/11 shooting. After Sullivan hit two free throws to tie it up with just under three minutes left, Herndon drained a corner three with just under a minute left to give Franklin a slight edge, 28-25, at the half.
Sullivan got another offensive rebound putback to start the second half, Olmstead attacked the rim for two, and Samuels scored off a nice feed from Olmstead as Franklin’s lead quickly grew to 34-25. Even after a timeout from Newton North, Franklin got a stop and Olmstead was fouled going to the rim, hitting both free throws as the lead peaked at 11 (36-25). It didn’t last though as Newton North orchestrated a 12-3 run to make it a two-point game late in the third. With 33 seconds left, Sullivan drove to the rim and finished through a foul for a traditional three-point play to give Franklin a 42-37 lead going into the fourth.
“Coming into the year, I was a doubter myself but that first game, they showed me with a good win over a good OA team,” Sullivan said. “Ever since that first game, I’ve believed in us and every single person on this roster and the coaching staff.”
Neely added, “What an unbelievable leader he’s been. He’s met everything. He took over at the end there but during the season he’s been a much better passer, he was getting to the rim more after falling in love with the NBA three-point line for a while, and he really separated himself. Obviously, we wanted the ball in his hands down the stretch, simple as that. You saw all the plays he made. Sometimes as a coach, you just have to get out of the way and not over-coach. Just get the ball to your best player and let him do some work.”
Franklin boys basketball finishes the season at 27-1.
