Panther men’s hoops are tied for second in the Mountain Seven Conference.
With six games over Christmas break, Doug Plemmons’ team was hard at work over the holidays, facing elite opponents from three different states. With three wins including one over conference rival Pisgah, Franklin improved to 9-4 overall and 2-1 in the M7C.
On Dec. 22, the Panthers traveled to Western Carolina University for a matchup with A.C. Reynolds in the Catamount Clash of Conferences. There, a talented Rocket team outgunned Franklin 70-35 behind 22 points apiece from Kaelan Gilliland and Declan Brown.
After falling to A.C. Reynolds, on Dec. 28 the Panthers traveled to Hiawassee, Georgia for the annual Battle of the States. In a three-day tournament hosted by Towns County High School, Franklin lost their first game to Union County, Georgia, 70-66, but claimed 20-plus-point wins over Coosa (Rome, Georgia) and Polk County, Tennessee. Junior guard Max McClure racked up 64 points and 27 rebounds in the victories, good for his seventh and eighth double-doubles in 12 games.
“Over the Christmas holidays, we did a pretty good job of offensive rebounding and getting some second shots,” said head coach Doug Plemmons of the tournament on Lake Chatuge. “I think we’re getting better defensively. We’re still making some mistakes, but I like our intensity on defense.”
After a strong tournament effort in Towns County, on Jan. 3 the team traveled to Andrews for their first game of 2024. There, Franklin started the game hot from beyond the arc, turning 3-pointers from McClure and junior forward Noah Brannon into an early 9-4 lead. The Wildcats soon returned the favor however, scoring 11 of the next 18 points to cut their deficit to 16-15.
Freshman forward Will Rauers exploded in the second, posting 13 points, a steal and a beautiful wraparound pass/assist. Despite Rauers’ best efforts though, Franklin led just 33-30 at the half.
Andrews shot out of the gate to start the third, scoring the quarter’s first 12 points to take a 42-33 lead. Despite six points from McClure and four from senior guard Reed Raby, Franklin ended the period down 56-45.
Franklin slowly chipped away at Andrews’ lead to start the fourth, cutting their deficit to 64-60 on a 3-pointer by Raby. With just a minute to play however, the Wildcat offense stayed hot, keeping the Panthers at bay for a 71-64 win. After the game, Plemmons said Franklin’s play on the boards had backslid from Christmas break.
“I thought we hurt ourselves in a couple of areas. Number one, our rebounding on the offensive end was non-existent,” he said. “The other thing [was], I thought in the third quarter they ran their stuff, got some good looks and scored some baskets on us, and I thought we got in a little bit of a one-on-one-type game. We’ve got some guys that can do that, but generally we’re better when we’re running our plays, moving the basketball and sharing the basketball, rather than one guy bringing it down and trying to create a shot for himself.”
After the narrow loss to the 10-1 Wildcats, who have fielded strong teams the past few years under head coach Matt Maennle (son of longtime Andrews coach Frank Maennle), Franklin sat at 8-4 overall heading into the heart of their conference schedule. With M7 matchups making up 10 of their remaining 11 games, Plemmons said the team would need to prepare for a tough slog.
“I was telling the boys, we might have two or three games on our schedule left that might be considered ‘easier,’ but other than that …,” said Plemmons. “We’re at the halfway point in our season, and of the 12 games that are remaining, for the most past every night we’ll have to be ready to play and play at a very high level in order to have a chance to win. There ain’t no more breathers, so hopefully we’re ready for that.”
On Jan. 5 Franklin traveled to Pisgah for the first of their 10 final Mountain Seven games.There, both teams engaged in a defense-heavy first-quarter, frustrating each other’s offenses for long stretches. Five points from Raby and four from McClure gave Franklin a narrow 9-6 lead to end the period.
Franklin’s shooters remained cold from behind the arc in the second, relying on tough baskets inside from the post. Despite eight points from McClure, Pisgah’s offense looked sharp throughout the quarter, ending the half up 28-21.
The Panthers largely flipped the script in the third, chipping away at the Black Bear lead with six points, an assist and two steals from Rauers and 10 points from McClure. They ended the quarter down just 44-43.
Franklin’s offense stayed hot into the fourth, getting five points and a steal from junior guard Braylen Dezarn to go up 56-49. Sophomore guard Addix Sutton added four points and a steal to help cement a 65-56 Panther win.