In three games last week, Franklin’s boys basketball team allowed 48 points at Brevard, 33 against East Henderson and 43 against Pisgah.
The stellar defensive efforts led to three victories, which came on the heels of a four-game losing streak.
The Panthers entered play this week 15-7 overall and 5-4 in the Mountain Six Conference. The regular season final was scheduled for Tuesday against Smoky Mountain.
Coach Doug Plemmons said the Panthers’ defense has gotten better.
“With our zone, we’ve mixed it up a bit,” he said. “We’ve been applying half-court pressure out of traps or packing it in and keeping the paint guarded, whether against a big man or keeping guards from being able to drive to the basket.
“Those two factors defensively seem to have worked for us.”
The Panthers still work hard on man-to-man in practice. If a team gets hot shooting from the perimeter, Plemmons wants the Panthers to be able to switch defenses.
Rebounding has also improved as of late. The Panthers are limiting second-chance opportunities for the opposition thanks to their zone and where players are positioned. Miles McClure, Trey Penland and Griffin Green – all three of whom are 6-foot-4 or taller – occupy the spots under the basket in Franklin’s 2-3 zone.
“That gives us good length,” Plemmons said, “and they all jump really well.”
McClure returned to the lineup in the 54-48 win at Brevard on Feb. 3. The sophomore was out for two weeks with an ankle sprain and missed three games.
The Panthers lost all three games without McClure, yet they were competitive against arguably the three toughest opponents on their schedule: Smoky Mountain, Hendersonville and Hayesville.
McClure is Franklin’s leading scorer and rebounding, averaging 18.3 and 8.5 per game.
He scored 25 against Brevard, and then led the team again the next night by dropping 21 on East Henderson. It was a lopsided 54-33 victory over the last-placed Eagles.
McClure was in foul trouble against Pisgah in Friday’s battle between the rivals and scored only four points. But the Panthers played tremendous defense and got scoring from Green (15), Penland (13), Chad Wilson (eight) and Isaiah Johns (six).
The 46-43 win over Pisgah would’ve been much more comfortable if the Panthers could’ve knocked down their free throws. They were only 13-32 at the line.
Free throws have been an Achilles heel for the Panthers at times this season, Plemmons said, particularly early in the year and again as of late.
“I think it’s just a confidence thing,” he said, “being able to step up there and block things out of your mind. It’s about trusting your practice and knowing we can make free throws. We certainly shoot a lot of them in practice. Not being able to step up there and have confidence to knock them down – I know it’s different in games and the pressure is different than practice – but we’re still hoping to correct that.”
FHS entered play this week in fourth place in the MSC standings. A win over Smoky would leave both tied at 6-4 in the standings, likely in third place behind Hendersonville and Pisgah.
But Smoky would own the tiebreaker, having beaten Hendersonville, meaning Franklin is destined to be the No. 4 seed for the MSC tournament.
The Panthers will likely host No. 5 seed Brevard in Friday’s first round. The semifinals and championship of the tournament will shift to East Henderson.
Plemmons hopes the Panthers can enter the tournament with a win over Smoky and building their streak to four. It would also be a nice sendoff for their four seniors: Chris Hartbarger, Brayden Sroka, Bennett Swafford and Trey Woodard.
“A win over Smoky would be a great way to end it,” Plemmons said.
MSC standings (as of Feb. 6)
Hendersonville 7-2
Pisgah 6-3
Smoky Mountain 6-3
Franklin 5-4
Brevard 3-6
East Henderson 0-9