(Franklinville's Sam Erickson drives into the waiting arms of Ellicottville's Elliot Bowen)
All season, there have been two schools among the Class D ranks that have stood out as a notch above the competition. Franklinville and Ellicottville have both been ranked top 10 small schools locally and are also top 10 teams in NYS Class D. They also happen to hail from the same league in CCAA II East. So after Ellicottville took the first round in Franklinville, it was only fitting that the Panthers came back to return the favor so the debate could rage on as the sectionals approach.
Behind a focused defensive effort and a strong finish to the game, the Panthers took a 64-55 victory home from Ellicottville. The win pulls Franklinville even with the Eagles for first place in the league standings and likely sends the two into sectionals with identical power points.
In the first game between the two, Elliot Bowen broke open a tight game with a dominant fourth quarter to give Ellicottville the victory. Coming into the rematch, the Panthers tightened up their game plan to pay the 2016 First Team All-State selection even more attention.
"He's really, really, good and if he gets the ball where he can shoot it with his right hand...," Franklinville coach Jeff Haskell said. "Our goal was to double him and keep him outside."
The concentrated effort was effective throughout the contest, as the Panthers limited Bowen to just two baskets from the field in the game and 11 points on the evening. Bowen added 10 rebounds to his stat line and shot 7/10 from the charity stripe.
"Our guards did a nice job of denying the entry pass," Haskell said. "And Dylan Burton busted his tail guarding him."
"There were guys around him all night, he didn't have much space," Ellicottville coach Dave McCann said. "I think they did a real nice job of walling him in."
The Eagles seemed undeterred by Franklinville's game plan, especially early on, and found scoring from the perimeter instead. Ellicottville jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the game and led for all but a two minute stretch in the second quarter. Austin Grinols was the steady hand for the Eagles, scoring 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, including three 3-pointers before heading to halftime with Ellicottville leading 28-25.
"He's capable of doing that," McCann said of Grinols. "He's one of our best shooters."
Three minutes into the second half, Franklinville took a 34-33 lead on a score from Isaac Kopp, who scored a team-high 17 points and knocked down three treys in the game. The Eagles responded with three points apiece from Grinols and Griffin Chudy (14 points & six assists) to to go back up 39-34. However, over the final two minutes of the third quarter, the Panthers knocked down a pair of shots from beyond the arc, one from Kopp and the other by Brock Blecha, which sent the game into the final frame with Ellicottville clinging to a 43-42 advantage.
With the game on the line and eight minutes to play, Franklinville turned to Sam Erickson to help steady the ship and focus the team, while one of his teammates stepped up and delivered some scoring.
"Sam was a tremendous leader when things got tight," Haskell said.
Erickson scored seven of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and guarded Bowen over the final eight minutes when Franklinville switched to man. His 3-pointer with 3:35 left capped a 7-0 spurt that gave the Panthers a 54-47 lead. But with 2:16 left, Grinols canned his fifth trifecta of the night for Ellicottville, to make it a one possession game at 54-52.
With the Eagles desperately needing a stop, Blecha came through with the shot of the night for Franklinville. His 3-pointer with 1:38 left to play gave the Panthers a 57-52 lead and allowed them to close out the Eagles. Blecha had nine of his 16 points in the final stanza, including a traditional three-point play.
"They hit some big shots in the fourth and I don't think we did a great job of rebounding," McCann said. "Brock (Blecha) really stepped up for them...he's a capable scorer and he put the ball in the basket. "I thought towards the end of the game they out-worked us a little bit."
"Brock Blecha stepped up, he's a gamer...he's an athlete," Haskell said.
Franklinville scored the game's final five points from the charity stripe to extend its lead late when the Eagles couldn't get any late shots to fall. Darren Clark scored 12 points in the win for Franklinville.
Both teams have two games remaining against league opponents they took care of handily, prior to the start of sectionals. With the potential for multiple teams to be tied in power points, it's uncertain how the Class D seedings will shake out. But my sense is there's a good chance there will be a trilogy to this series at JCC, the ultimate place to play a rubber match.
Franklinville 8 - 17 - 17 - 22 = 64
Ellicottville 12 - 16 - 15 - 12 = 55
Point Totals
Franklinville: Isaac Kopp 17, Sam Erickson 16 , Brock Blecha 16, Darren Clark 12, Dylan Burton 3
Ellicottville: Austin Grinols 19, Griffin Chudy 14, Elliot Bowen 11, Noah Stuve 6, Steven Rowland 4, Deric Leiper 1
- centercourt
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