By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

ARCANUM — Even after an extended break, the Jets basketball team wasted no time setting the tone in this one. The Franklin Monroe boys basketball team defeated Bradford, 55-38, in the Hangar on Jan. 5.

Franklin Monroe head coach Troy Myers said it was good to not only get this win, but learn from it as well.

”I’m proud of the kids. The one lesson that we have to take away is how to close down a game. You could look at a lot of different factors, but we did not close down that game, in my opinion, very well,” Myers said.

The Jets came out and got to an early lead and never gave it up. The defense forced Bradford into some mistakes and the offense did their job getting buckets to maintain the lead.

Bradford coach Alex Swabb said the game came down to pace and tone. They let Franklin Monroe dictate both the whole game.

“We came out and we played their game the entire time. We didn’t match their effort, we didn’t match their intensity. That’s a knock on us and tip our hat to them,” Swabb said. “They came out and played. The better team won tonight.”

Franklin Monroe led 27-18 at halftime. Myers said the team did a lot of good things early to give themselves the early lead. They were making life hard for the Bradford offense.

The Jets had a 24-8 lead with 4:45 left in the first half. The Railroaders couldn’t get shots to fall and senior Hudson Hill got into foul trouble with three fouls early in the second quarter.

Junior Owen Canan was the only bright spot for Bradford. He had 16 of the team’s 18 first half points. Myers said Canan is a tough player to guard as he and the whole Bradford team put in the work to get the players they are.

“He’s a tough cover. I know that kid works really hard on his game. I have a lot of respect for him, really a lot of those kids over there. They work an extraordinary amount. Thankfully, we were able to slow him up in the second half,” Myers said.

In those last minutes of the second quarter, Bradford went on a 10-3 run.

Bradford was able to hang around for awhile during the second half. They would get a few buckets and it seemed like a run could be coming.

But, the Jets would make a shot here and there to get back up to double-digits. Swabb said the whole second half was them trading buckets with each other.

“Even when we did get some stops and we did get some buckets, we trade it right off and give free ones right back. It’s really hard to come back and get a game tighter if you’re going to give one, take one,” Swabb said.

The Railroaders got more offensive production in the second half from the rest of the team, but Canan couldn’t get going again.

Myers said the team has worked hard in practice on covering Bradford’s run outs in transition. He also said the scout guys they have to help them with those things have been a big help and are important to this team.

The Railroarders couldn’t get a lot going in transition as the Jets did get back to defend. In the half court, Bradford still struggled to make shots against the Franklin Monroe defense.

The Jets were able to close it out to hand the Railroaders their first WOAC loss of the season.

Canan finished with 18 points with Hill being the second leading scorer with seven points.

For Franklin Monroe, junior EB Fall led the team with 19 points. Senior Gage Wackler also had double-digits with 12 points.

Myers said overall, the team is improving. They just need to continue to work on closing games out better.

“I think we’re getting better. It’s just closing down the game is kind of a weakness right now,” Myers said.

The Jets are 8-2 on the season and will host Legacy Christian on Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. The Railroaders are 7-3 and will be at Fairlawn on Jan. 6 for a 7:15 p.m. tip off.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]