Springboro, Ohio — Springboro and Franklin met on Tuesday night as the two schools who are not in the same conference play each other every year in what has been a very back and forth matchup. Springboro defeated Franklin 85-54 in last year’s matchup as Will Emrick and the Wildcats looked to get revenge against their cross-town rival.
Mount Vernon Nazarene University commit Will Emrick got Franklin off to a fast start as he drilled a transition three to put Franklin up 3-2. Caden Johnson and Sam Feldman traded buckets, but Zack Minton and Will Emrick could not be stopped from three. The show that the senior duo put on in the first quarter gave Franklin a 16-8 lead after one-quarter of basketball.
Springboro sophomore forward Sam Feldman got the second quarter started off with an and-one. Emrick followed that up with a jumper but Springboro senior guard Willieon Yates matched that with a layup of his own. Caden Johnson started to turn up the intensity as well as hit a tough layup and then a couple plays later hit an and-one to put Franklin up 23-15. Springboro forward Noah Moser hit a jumper but it was erased after Aiden Kinser hit a three to put the Wildcats up 26-17. A Kahleel Trent three would make it just a 26-20 lead for Franklin heading into the locker room at halftime.
Will Emrick came out of the gate firing as he opened up the second half with another three. Then after a pair of layups from Caden Johnson and a nice backdoor pass to Emrick who got an easy layup, the Wildcats were suddenly up by 11. Emrick would hit two more threes before the end of the quarter but Sam Feldman would lead a charge for Springboro that would keep the game close. Feldman scored bucket after bucket as he cut into the deficit but the Panthers still trailed 43-33 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
After Caden Johnson hit a couple of layups early in the 4th, it looked like the Wildcats might just run away with this one. Willieon Yates wouldn’t let that happen though. The senior guard drilled a pair of threes to cut the lead to just 6. Senior forward Noah Moser then hit a three and after that Yates converted on a layup to make it a 4 point game. Landon Palmer’s extremely friendly bounce on a jumper tied the game at 50 apiece with 1:06 to go. Then with 12 seconds left Caden Johnson drove down the lane but was blocked by Palmer. Willieon Yates slowly dribbled up the court before Springboro burned a timeout. The final play of regulation was a hail mary from Kahleel Trent that fell just short as the Panthers and Wildcats were heading to overtime.
The overtime period felt like an extension of the first half as Zack Minton, Caden Johnson, and Will Emrick went on a 7-0 run to begin overtime. A deep three from Noah Moser cut it to a 57-53 game. Moser then hit another three to make it a 2 point game with just under 30 seconds remaining. Then on the inbounds pass it appeared Kahleel Trent got mostly ball on his steal attempt but the referees called a reach-in-foul which sent Zack Minton to the line. Minton would convert at the line which put the game on ice. To seal the deal, Moser lost his handle on the ball while dribbling up the court and Franklin held on to stun Springboro in overtime 62-56.
Caden Johnson, Will Emrick, and Zack Minton combined for 52 points (22, 20, 10) as Franklin rolled over their rival. Springboro was led by Sam Feldman who had 22 points. 14 of those coming from the paint while the other 8 came from the free-throw line. Noah Moser had 15 points including 3 three’s and Willieon Yates had 12.
Franklin has three upcoming SWBL road games as they play Valley View, Eaton and Brookville. Springboro will look to bounce back against a struggling Northmont team who they lost to earlier in the season.