PITSBURG – The Franklin Monroe Jets used a strong third quarter to defeat a young Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks team 63-35 in conference play.
FM put three seniors and two juniors on the court, while the visiting Hawks had a starting lineup of a freshman and four sophomores.

”They are a very inexperienced team and have a lot of young kids on the floor,” Myers stated. “They’re playing freshmen and sophomores, so you are going to have some inexperience, you’re going to have lapses in judgment, but their kids played hard.”
“We had men going against younger men,” said Mississianawa Valley coach Jeff Vaughn. “That’s not an excuse; our kids battled.”
The visiting Blackhawks took the opening period 10-8, with Franklin Monroe battling back to take the second quarter 14-7, sending the teams to the halftime break with the Jets holding a 22-17 advantage.

“Give Mississinawa credit,” Myers said. “The first half they did a good job being patient with their offense, trying to get the shots they wanted.”
Franklin Monroe opened a big lead, taking period No. 3 by a 26-6 count to push its lead to 48-23 with three quarters in the book.
“I didn’t think we played poorly in the first half; we just made some untimely plays, which were a little soft at the rim,” Coach Myers said. “The second half we imposed our will not only defensively but our ability to get out in transition and score easy buckets.”

The Jets won the final period 15-12, with both teams going to their benchs midway through the final quarter.
Franklin Monroe stays undefeated on the season with a 5-0 (2-0) record. MV goes to 3-3 (1-2) in the young season.
“If you can build a system and believe in what you’re doing, you’ll reap the benefits if you’re willing to stay with it and be faithful,” said Myers.

EB Fall led Franklin Monroe and all scorers with a game-high 22 points.
BOXSCORE:
FRANKLIN MONROE 63, MISSISSINAWA VALLEY
FRANKLIN MONROE – EB Fall 22, L. Brenner 12, B. Filbrun 10, E. Brenner 8, B. Riffle 6, B. Denlinger 3, T. Miller 2 – TOTALS 24 9-13 2
Mississinawa Valley – C. Scott 11, C. Hanes 8, C. Hardy 7, A. Amspaugh 4, B. Hamilton 3, C. McGlothlin 2 – TOTALS 9 11-12 2 35
3-POINTERS
Franklin Monroe 2 (E. Brenner 1, Filbrun 1)
Mississinawa Valley 2 (C. Hanes 1, C. Hardy 1)
SCORE by QUARTERS
08-14-26-15 63 Franklin Monroe
10- 07-06-12 35 Mississinawa Valley