PIQUA – Two Franklin Monroe varsity boys’ basketball records fell in the Jets’ 60-43 OHSAA Division VII district semifinal win over the Newton Indians.
Veteran Franklin Monroe coach Troy Myers became the all-time winningest Jets boys varsity basketball coach with his 180th career win passing Jack Oliver’s 11-year FM career with 179 wins (1957-1967).
“To be able to sustain something at this level takes an extreme amount of faith, and loyalty from people behind you and that is what I have,” said Coach Myers. “It’s a very hard thing to establish and sustain. These people have been what sustained me and sustained our program.”
The 2024-2025 Franklin Monroe team became the all-time leading 3-point single-season record holders going into the night’s game standing at 137 needing two triples to pass the old mark of 138. The Jets knocked down nine threes on the night and now stand at 146 for the season.
“When you boil this all down, the first thing is we get a chance to play in the district final and that is ultimately what we were here to do,” Myers said about the record. “The second thing is this is the fourth time in 35 years that our school has won 20 games, and the third thing is that we set the 3-point record in a monumental game, and it mattered. It’s an incredible testament to our people’s consistency and understanding of work. We all share that and that’s what makes this special.”
Franklin Monroe won on the back of seven Ben Denlinger 3-pointers, the night’s leading scorer. Denlinger, a junior, came into the game averaging 4.7 points per outing in the first 22 games with 12 triples on the year.
“An incredible effort,” Myers said. “This is the essence of our team this year. It could be a different guy every night. When they tried to take away Eric Brenner and EB Fall, we knew that coming in, there was potential for Ben Denlinger to do what he did.”
“You put your prayer in and hope he’s making his 3s because we thought that would be open and it was and he took full advantage of it,” continued Myers. “You have to give a kid like that a ton of credit. Ben has the most; we call them ‘early birds’ before school. He has the most early birds attended in the last three years. What a reward, what a fruit for your labor in a real-life scenario, a real-life example for people who are watching and paying attention.”
Coach Myers gave his junior the green light in the team’s big win.
“He was fantastic tonight,” Myers said. “He shot it with confidence. You earn that confidence and he’s done that. We just put in two plays intended to get him open for that reason. Once he saw a couple go in that was just like playing with magic a little bit – he felt good and we trusted him.”
Newton jumped out to a 7-4 lead before the Jets’ Denlinger drained his first triple of the night to knot the score at 7-7 at 5:43, showing on the first quarter clock. Franklin Monroe closed out the opening period with an 11-4 run led by 7 Eric Brenner points, including a three-pointer and 2-2 at the line, and 6 EB Fall points, including 2-2 at the charity strip, giving FM an 18-11 lead with one quarter in the book.
Period No. 2 went to Franklin Monroe 17-8 with Denlinger canning two 3-pointers good for 6 points and Blake Riffle 5-points including a three at 4:02 giving the Jets a 25-13 double-digit lead before sending the teams to the break with the Blue and White on top 35-19.
Franklin Monroe won the third by a single point with the hot-handed Denlinger canning three 3-pointers to go along with a free throw leading the Jets to a 12-11 third and a 47-30 advantage with one quarter to play.
With a comfortable lead in hand, the Jets spread the fourth quarter court forcing Newton to send FM to the free-throw line. FM went 8-of-12. Denlinger scored the lone Jets field goal of the fourth period, his seventh triple of the night. The teams played to a 13-13 final quarter standoff giving the Jets a 17-point tournament win.
Denlinger led Franklin Monroe and all scorers with a game-high 22 points.
Coach Myers took time following the team’s win to discuss the team’s record-setting victory, including his faith, wife Alisa, and parents, Deb and Scott Myers.
“We decided in the very first year I became coach, that we were going to try to put a spirit of faith on the program,” said Coach Myers. “I know I’m not a Hall-of-Fame coach but my intent all along was to be a Hall-of-Fame mentor and relationship builder. You win with good people and we’ve done that. This is not my story, this is our story back to Travis Feitshans, Trey Mong, Devon Eley, and Ethan Conley, both Conley’s and I have three on my staff.”
“We weren’t married when I took the job but we were dating. She kind of knew, and eventually, she got involved with the cheerleaders and now it’s like it’s our family. We haven’t been able to have our own (children) but these kids are our family and every single day I go in that gym I treat it like such, even the guys that help us that didn’t even play for us. There is a spirit about being around people who care and are loyal and my wife is at the top of the list.”
“In this profession, no matter what level you have to keep your circle because not all the people riding with you are for you and that is why I keep my circle real tight. I trust the people in my circle, and my parents are certainly two of those people. Nobody wanted to see us in this position more than my parents and I am thankful to be able to share this with them.”
“This is a platform we have a choice with,” Myers added. “We can either be a prism of light for the people who are paying attention to the platform, and even with the relationships we have in our program, it gives you an opportunity to shed some light on something that somebody is looking for or has lost. I don’t push that on people, but I try to pour my heart and soul into it and maybe give an example of what we are all chasing.”
With a District Championship on the line, the No. 4 seed Franklin Monroe advances to take on the No. 9 seed Fort Loramie Redskins, 48-46 overtime winners over Springfield’s Emmanuel Christian Academy, Friday, February 28 with a 7 p.m. start time at Piqua High School.
Unofficially Franklin Monroe was 18-36 from the floor, 9-16 from beyond the arc, 15-of-20 from the free throw line and 12 turnovers. Newton shot 16-31 from the field, 2-of-7 from three, 7-of-18 from the line, and 12 turnovers.
Franklin Monroe will take a 20-4 season record into the district title game with one of its losses coming to Emmanuel Christian, 58-51.
BOXSCORE:
FRANKLIN MONROE 60, NEWTON 43
FRANKLIN MONROE – B. Denlinger 22, EB Fall 13, B. Riffle 12, E. Brenner 9, L. Brenner 3, B. Filbrun 1 – TOTALS 9 15-20 9 60
NEWTON – L. Cornett 16, M. Newhouse 12, T. Robinson 5, L. Morrow 3, S. Renner 2, A. Koine 2 – 15 7-19 2 43
3-POINTERS
Franklin Monroe 9 (B. Denlinger 7, E. Brenner 1, B. Riffle 1)
Newton 2 (L. Cornett 1, T. Robinson 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
18-17-12-13 60 Franklin Monroe
11-08-11-13 43 Newton
