ATTLEBORO, Mass. – On the road against the No. 2 seed, Franklin (18-5) went into Monday night’s Div. 1 Sweet Sixteen game wanting to prove that it can compete with one of the state’s best. To accomplish that goal, the Panthers were going to need to play some of their best basketball of the season.
In front of a packed, raucous gym, they did just that.
Franklin stormed out of the gates, building a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter. Bishop Feehan rallied to cut the lead to just one by halftime and grabbed a lead heading to the fourth quarter, but the Shamrocks weren’t able to put the game away until the final minute, going 13-of-18 at the line in the fourth to pull out a 69-61 victory.
“I have nothing but pride,” said Franklin coach John Leighton. “I’m so happy with the way they played. I know the final score is what it is, but we went out and played our best basketball and that’s all you can ask them to do.”
The first quarter matched the energy in the gym. Both teams were flying up and down the court, and the Panthers looked equal to Feehan’s typical fast-paced, high-pressure style. Samantha Reale (20 points and nine rebounds) was the lone Shamrock that Franklin was struggling to stop. The North Attleboro native scored 11 of Feehan’s 15 points in the first, consistently getting to the rim and putting the visitors in early foul trouble.
Reale put Feehan ahead 11-6 with an and-one, but Franklin came right back. A nice skip pass found Sasha Tracey (six points, all in the first) open for a three from the wing. Katie Peterson then got into the lane and dropped off a nice pass for Lizzy Newman (eight points and five rebounds) to score, plus the foul.
Caelyn Leonard (seven points) followed with a three on a kick-out by Tracey to extend the Franklin lead to 17-12. A Reale three closed the gap back down to three points, but the Panthers scored the final six of the quarter to build an early cushion. Peterson (game-high 24 points) twice found a seam down the middle for layups and she dished out an assist to Leonard for a bucket as well.
“Across the board, I thought defensively we did some amazing things at times,” Leighton said of his team’s effort. “They’re a great shooting team, but we forced them to reverse it way more than they wanted and that’s just team defense. That’s not an individual thing, that’s a whole team thing.”
It was always going to be hard to maintain that pace against a team of Feehan’s caliber and fouls started to add up in the second to slow down Franklin’s momentum.
“Not only are they good, but they’re really quick,” Leighton said about his team getting into the double bonus early in the second. “They put us in some hard spots, rotationally, and you just have to learn to play through it. As the game went on, we did better.”
Chloe Fales (nine points) scored on a reverse to keep Franklin ahead by eight, but Charlotte Adams-Lopez drilled a deep three to slice the deficit to just two. Newman answered with a line drive three on the other end and Peterson once again got to the rim for a layup that made it 33-28.
In the closing seconds of the half, Reale rimmed out a halfcourt three, but Mary Daley hustled to secure the rebound and lay it in at the buzzer. It was her only basket of the night and made it 33-32 going into the locker room.
The play electrified the Feehan faithful and the momentum seemed to carry over into the third quarter, as Julia Webster came out and scored plus a foul to put Feehan in front. From there, Madelyn Steel took over for the hosts. With all the attention going to Reale, the North Attleboro native caught fire from deep, burying four three-pointers in the quarter.
Franklin continued to hang around. Peterson continued to find her way to the basket, Bridget Leo had a nice drive for two, and Fales drilled a big three that made it 46-44. Feehan went on an 8-1 run from there and it looked like the home team was suddenly in full control. Peterson wasn’t ready to let the game slip. She swished a halfcourt three at the buzzer to pull the Panthers within six going to the fourth.
“UMass’ gain is our loss,” Leighton said about Peterson, who is committed to play lacrosse for the Minutemen next year. “She’s done everything we’ve ever asked of her. Twenty-four points and at no point was I like wow she’s taking every shot, but it was just her shots were falling. She works so hard and the effort tonight was great.”
Feehan had only one made field goal in the fourth quarter, but the Shamrocks continued to manufacture points at the line. Peterson closed the gap back to six, taking a nice pass from Newman and finishing with a reverse, and then added a pair at the line as well. Three Feehan free throws pushed the deficit back to seven, but Newman again made a nice pass to set up Leonard for a bucket.
The Shamrocks continued to keep the visitors at arm’s length. Newman hustled to grab an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Peterson for a three that made it 67-61 in the final minute, but there wasn’t enough time for a comeback and Reale sealed the victory with two more from the line.
Leighton was full of praise for his team, regardless of the final score. He said, “It’s hard to have it end, but if it’s going to end then I’d rather have it end with a game like this against a team like that.”
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