Franklin boys find Southeast race too even to afford any lapses

Franklin - It's one thing to fight your way to the top of the Southeast Conference boys basketball standings like Franklin did in recent weeks.

But it's quite another to stay there as the Sabers found out last week. They lost a tough 60-56 decision to Kenosha Tremper on Jan. 10 but maintained a share of the league lead with a 72-62 road win over Racine Case on Friday.

That's just the way it's going to be in the Southeast this season, said Sabers' coach Tim Hogan.

"There have been games we've lost at the buzzer, games we've won in overtime and games that we won when we were down at halftime," said Hogan. "We just can't overlook anyone in front of us. We showed that last week."

The split left the Sabers in a tie with Racine Park at 6-1 as the Southeast has now completed the first half of its season. Franklin is 7-6 overall while Park is 11-2 overall.

Franklin will try to maintain its focus Jan. 20 when it visits Kenosha Bradford (1-6, 1-10) at 7:30 p.m. and then heads off to South Milwaukee on Jan. 24 for a nonconference game.

Hogan said a major key in keeping momentum would be the continued explosiveness of his front court. In the victory over Case on Friday, forward Brett Ksobiech scored 14 points in the first quarter alone as the Sabers went up 22-18. They expanded that margin to 36-22 at the half.

Ksobiech would finish with 26 points on 11 of 13 shooting, while sophomore forward Chad Kanugh continues to build off his recent 30-point outburst that keyed a clutch win over Park with 7-of-13 shooting and 16 points.

Point guard Nick Kriesel had a huge game, said Hogan, as he not only contributed 15 points but also had seven assists and knocked down seven of eight free throws. He had only two turnovers on the game despite the fact that Case was picking up Franklin full-court defensively the entire second half.

"Our strong front court play will help open things up on the perimeter," said Hogan. "They were playing us with some zone pressure but we managed to break it and get some good shot selection in the process."

Franklin had only nine turnovers for the game.

The Sabers were a little more indifferent in their play against Tremper (3-4, 5-6), falling behind 14-9 at the quarter and always fighting an uphill battle. They were down 43-39 going into the fourth quarter.

"In the fourth quarter, they seemed to have an answer every time we made a little push," said Hogan. "Our decision-making tonight was just not very good. We were trying to scratch and claw every possession but they hit shots when they needed. They really were able to dictate the tempo to us."

Ksobiech had 15 points while Kanugh had 14 and Evan Kruczynski 10.

Franklin lost despite a large advantage from the foul line (19 of 24 as compared to seven of 10 for the Trojans).