UNION CITY — Franklin Monroe pulled out a dramatic 46-44 road win over Mississinawa Valley, scoring the game-winner at the rim with just 0.8 seconds remaining to earn a WOAC conference victory Friday night.
“I commend our guys for their guts down the stretch,” said Franklin Monroe coach Troy Myers. “Give credit to Mississinawa — those guys played really hard and scrappy. I’m happy that we hung with it and had the guts to finish at the end.”
“There are several minutes we would like to have back that we made mistakes that kind of cost us this game tonight,” said Mississinawa Valley coach Jeff Vaughn. “Turnovers at halfcourt, some ill-advised shots. The kids played their butts off.”
Franklin Monroe took a slim 14-13 edge after one quarter behind six points from Blake Riffle, while Cing Scott accounted for six of the Blackhawks’ points.
Mississinawa Valley built an eight-point advantage midway through the second quarter before settling for a 22-19 halftime lead. Kyle Werkamp paced the Blackhawks in the second quarter with six points, including a perfect 2-for-2 trip to the free-throw line.
The Blackhawks continued to control the game in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 31-22 at the 2:22 mark and taking a 33-26 advantage into the final period, fueled by nine third-quarter points from Scott.
“We were very inefficient for three and a half quarters, and then we were finally able to bust their zone a little bit,” Myers said.
Franklin Monroe mounted its comeback in the fourth quarter, outscoring Mississinawa Valley 20-11 in the final eight minutes. Riffle poured in 11 of his game-high 24 points in the quarter, while Lucas Brenner delivered the decisive play — driving the length of the floor to score the winning basket with less than a second remaining, sealing the win with his layup.
“It was a simple tie-game draw-up — you don’t need a three,” Myers explained. “Get to the rim, get to the free-throw line at minimum, and I trust Lucas an awful lot. There are a few guys on this team that we don’t value more than the others, but when we need something specific, we’re going to go to those guys. I knew in my heart he would come through. He got right to the rim, exactly what we wanted on the right side, and finished the game.”
“Defensively, I thought we played hard,” Vaughn said. “It just comes down to making plays at the end, and Brenner made a play, and we didn’t. I can’t fault my kids’ effort.”
Franklin Monroe’s late efficiency proved to be the difference.
“Our points per possession in the final four minutes were awfully good,” Myers said. “We were efficient down the stretch. I commend our older guys and experienced guys for understanding the moment — what we needed.”
Riffle led Franklin Monroe and all scorers with 24 points.
“Just a monster, and he’s able to do it on multiple levels,” Myers said. “He can shoot it, get to the mid-range game, finish, and hit free throws. He’s a multi-level scorer. You go to the well as long as you can.”
Scott finished with 22 points to pace Mississinawa Valley.
“Cing Scott proved his name should be up there for player of the year,” Vaughn said. “He was double-teamed every time he touched it. We still have to have other guys willing to step up when that happens because they were throwing the whole kitchen sink at him. This one really hurts.”
BOX SCORE:
FRANKLIN MONROE 46, MISSISSINAWA VALLEY 44
FRANKLIN MONROE – B. Riffle 24, L. Brenner 10, B. Gilbert 9, B. Denlinger 2, B. Cool 1 – TOTALS 11 9-16 5 46
MISSISSINAWA VALLEY – C. Scott 22, K. Wehrkamp 8, C. Hanes 4, J. Beanblossom 3, E. Seubert 3, A. Amspaugh 2, C. Hardy 2 – TOTALS 13 9-12 3 44
3-POINTERS
Franklin Monroe 5 (B. Gilbert 3, B. Riffle 2)
Mississinawa Valley 3 (J. Beanblossom 1, E. Seubert 1, C. Scott 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
14-05-07-20 46 Franklin Monroe
13-09-11-11 44 Mississinawa Valley
