Franklin 'hit by a freight train in the second half' in state final vs. Worcester North

LOWELL – Caden Sullivan tipped an offensive rebound into the hoop just before the final buzzer, the last of his game-high point total. His off-balance putback ended with him crashing to the floor. The crowd exploded.

But instead of joining the celebration at mid-court, the Franklin junior sat and watched passively, elbows resting on his knees. A dream season ended in defeat.

Worcester North, again, was the team doing the celebrating Sunday night after the Polar Bears erased a 12-point, third-quarter deficit to win their second consecutive Division 1 title, 59-53, at the Tsongas Center.

North (24-0) finished unbeaten, again, and takes a 45-game win streak into next year.

Franklin (25-2) lost to an instate school for the first time this season and fell to 0-3 in state title games.

After Andrew O’Neill sank a 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Panthers a 39-27 lead, North’s trap and offensive rebounding gave Franklin fits and a 20-6 run effectively clinched the victory.

“That’s the story of the second half: you have to take care of the ball,” said Franklin coach CJ Neely. “That was a freight train in the second half that unfortunately we were unable to take care of.”

As Franklin had trouble shooting and securing the basketball, North’s Amir Jenkins came up big, scoring 10 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. Franklin only managed nine over the same span.

The Polar Bears led 54-46 after four Jenkins free throws before the Panthers responded with Sullivan’s 3-pointer and Sean O’Leary’s basket while being fouled with 1:34 left. But a lane violation prevented O’Leary from completing the three-point play, though Franklin trailed just 54-51.

But a Jenkins lefty tip-in with 57 second remaining keyed the final run for the Bears.

Neely was asked after the game how hard it was to stop North’s momentum.

“I don’t think we ever did,” he said. “It was ridiculously hard. They’re excellent. There’s a reason why they’ve won a lot of games in a row. They’re never out of a game. We got it to double-digits in the second half. From that point on they changed the game around and we never responded.”

Sullivan catches fire in first half for Panthers

Sullivan finished with 23 points and had 13 at the half when Franklin led 32-25. A Hansy Jacques 3-pointer in the final second had the Panthers floating into the locker room.

Once the lead reached a dozen points, however, the Panthers scored just 14 points over the final 14 minutes. North’s full-court pressure and work on the boards was just too much as Joseph Okla’s and Teshaun Steele’s size helped put away Franklin.

“We were playing six on five all week; we were putting a seventh guy in there sometimes,” Neely said of his team’s practices heading into the game. “We knew the pressure was coming. You can do as many rebounding drills as you want, but when you have two 6-6 guys jumping over the top of you, you can’t simulate that.”

Jacques finished with nine points and Bradley Herndon added eight for the Panthers. O’Leary had five points.

“I feel terrible for the guys and the town of Franklin,” Neely said. “I’m proud of them. That’s the best senior class I’ve ever had. The toughest, most-together group I’ve ever had that I honestly felt deserved to win a state championship. Unfortunately, we were just a little bit short.”

Franklin’s previous appearances in state championship games

The last time the Panthers appeared in the state title game was also on St. Patrick’s Day. After completing an 18-2 regular season for the second year in a row, Franklin defeated Algonquin in the 2018 Central sectional championship.

Franklin defeated previously unbeaten Springfield Central in the state semifinals before falling to Hockomock League foe Mansfield, 67-54, at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield.

The year before, Franklin earned overtime wins in the Central final and state semis to again reach the state final. A 67-64 win over St. John’s (Shrewsbury) for the Central championship snapped a three-year postseason losing streak to the Pioneers as Josh Macchi’s 18 points paced the Panthers.

Chris Edgehill provided the heroics in the state semis when the freshman accounted for eight consecutive points in the final 20 seconds of regulation in an eventual 60-54 victory over Springfield Central. Franklin advanced to play Cambridge Ridge & Latin for the championship, again at Mass Mutual.

Cambridge, like Worcester North, was the defending state champs riding a 44-game winning streak and defeated Franklin, 70-43.

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Franklin boys basketball falls to undefeated Worcester North in D1 final