FRANK DAVIS/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
f.davis928@charter.net 

FRANKLIN
The Franklin High School Broncos basketball team fell to the Park View Dragons, 66-53, in a TriRivers District game on Monday night.

Playing at the Peggy Wilkins Gym, the Broncos started the game on fire and led 14-4 before he sleepy Dragons awoke. Franklin’s Quinton Lowe dropped in seven points as he attacked the Dragons on layups early on, but the Dragons snipped away at the lead, only trailing by two points, 20-18, at the end of the quarter.

Park View’s star forward, Kaleb Johnson, went on the attack and tallied 12 points in the second quarter to help the Dragons outscore their opponents 21-13 in the frame. Johnson, who led the Dragons in scoring with 26 points, showed his skills as he recorded three powerful slam dunks.

The Dragons became very aggressive on the defensive side of the ball in the second quarter, as well, forcing several Franklin turnovers that resulted in points on the other end, allowing them to maintain a 39-33 advantage at the half.

The aggressive play continued in the third quarter, and the Dragons pushed their lead to 50-38, which was too much for the Broncos to overcome. They closed the gap to as little as nine points in the waning minutes, but that was as close as they could get.

Franklin head coach Robby Cutchins remarked after the game, “Bottom line, the kids fought hard, we knew what we were facing tonight with Kaleb Johnson and a very aggressive Park View team. The kids had an opportunity to fold twice, but they battled back and keep fighting back. They were able to get in the single digits with about two and a half minutes remaining in the game and a chance to win the basketball game.”

Lowe led the way with 12 points for the Broncos, who are now 3-2 on the year. Franklin’s next game is Wednesday, Dec. 17, at home against Surry. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.