Franklin — Just when it needed it most, the struggling Franklin boys basketball team got a man-sized game from junior center Nick Romanowski.
The Sabers had lost three of their last four games, including their last two, to slip to 6-6. But the 6-foot-7-inch Romanowski put the team on his shoulders Friday and virtually carried them to a 74-67 Southeast Conference victory over red-hot Racine Horlick.
Unstoppable in the paint and on the boards, Romanowski scored 35 points and grabbed 21 rebounds as the Sabers snapped the Rebels' eight-game winning streak.
"He was a one-man wrecking crew," Horlick coach Jason Treutelaar said. "It's a totally different game when he's not in there, but we couldn't get him on the bench. Our defense wasn't bad; we just went up against a kid who played great (Friday)."
The big game helped Romanowski erase the bad memories of a 62-54 loss to visiting Kenosha Bradford on Jan. 19, when he got in foul trouble and scored a season-low seven points.
"We knew we really needed a win," he said. "I can't say enough about how my teammates put the ball in great positions for me. Then they cut to the basket. This one was a total team effort."
Franklin (7-6, 4-3) feasted off Romanowski's inside game from the start against the height-challenged Rebels, who have six players 6 feet or shorter.
Romanowski did plenty of the damage during a 15-point run to end the first half, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds. He also scored nine points in the final period.
Romanowski, Josh Marino and Macon Plewa all scored 13 points each in Franklin's 79-66 nonconference loss at Waterford on Saturday.
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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