franklin basketball

For The Daily Journal

FRANKLIN

A furious comeback attempt by the Columbus North boys basketball team came up just short on Thursday, with the Bull Dogs falling to Franklin 62-55.

North was down 56-41 in the middle of the final quarter. Using tight defense in a full-court press and in the half court, the Bull Dogs found themselves on a 12-2 run, which cut the Franklin lead 58-53 with less than two minutes to go in the game.

Cameron Smith led the Grizzly Cubs (7-12) with 16 points. Jarrett Bertsch added 15.

Mitchell Kelley scored five of his seven points in this stretch, all on breaks off of steals by the Bull Dogs.

Alternating baskets saw the North deficit at five again, at 60-55, but the Bull Dogs were unable to convert again. Franklin made two free throws, and multiple desperation 3-point attempts from North didn’t go in.

“I give Franklin credit. They made some shots. We had some energy at the end, but we weren’t able to pull it out,” North coach Jason Speer said. “We played inspired. Not that we didn’t play inspired the whole game, but we forced some action, and I thought the guys responded.”

Kooper Glick scored 26 for the Bull Dogs (14-7), but without a teammate in double figures, North was unable to keep up with the lights-out shooting of the Grizzly Cubs.

Nine Franklin 3-pointers constantly expanded the Grizzly Cubs’ lead throughout the game. After North led 16-12 after the first quarter, Franklin used a 21-10 second to take control of the game. Franklin’s Jarrett Bertsch hit three of his five 3-pointers in the frame, when the Cubs ended any momentum the Bull Dogs had built during the first half.

“We had a hand in their face, but they made some tough shots,” Speer said. “They made shots, and, with the looks we got, we just didn’t hit a high enough percentage.”

Sophomore Nathan VanDeventer and freshman Trey Vincent, both seeing much more playing time than anyone could have anticipated, were both very involved for the Bull Dogs.

Each scored six — VanDeventer knocked down a couple of 3’s, and Vincent was a presence on both ends.