Published Friday, Feb. 21, 1997
Knights 79
Hornets 69
Franklin rally KOs Hornets' playoffs hopes
* * *
EVANS POPS IN 28 TO FINISH 2ND IN COUNTY SCORING
By Ed Farrell
Herald Sports Writer
OIL CITY _ Geoff Evans' legacy in Hickory High School basketball annals will not necessarily be that he ended just shy of the county's all-time career scoring mark. Rather, Shenango Valley cage observers may remember his senior season for when he took an average team, hoisted it onto his back and carried it to a share of the Mercer County Athletic Conference Class AAA championship and into the District 10 playoffs.
Despite his 28-point, 11-rebound performance, Evans' scholastic career concluded Thursday night at Oil City High School, where defending PIAA Western Regional finalist Franklin eliminated Hickory, 79-69.
Evans ended his Hickory tenure with 1,968 points, 14 shy of the county career scoring standard (1,982) established by Sharpsville's Brian Brush. But even Evans' efforts could not boost Hickory into the state playoffs, as Franklin's depth and poise proved too much.
``It was fun to watch Geoff chase the scoring title,'' Hickory head coach Bill Dzuricsko acknowledged. ``But all of us, as a team, knew we had to win tonight to get two more games in order to help Geoff get that goal, and it just didn't work out tonight. Franklin was a little bit better team tonight.''
The Knights parlayed 13-of-14 marksmanship from the free-throw line during the fourth frame and hurdled Hickory's 60-55 lead with 5:03 remaining to avenge a 55-53 regular-season setback at Hermitage. Franklin (21-4) will face General McLane (23-2) _ a 68-55 winner over Strong Vincent _ in the D-10 semifinals.
``This is such a tough first-round game for us, I'm just thankful to get out of here with a win,'' admitted Franklin head coach Bill Hager. ``I thought, maybe, our pressure wore them down a little at the end _ I hope that had something to do with it. But, just a great basketball game for a first-round game, and we're really pleased to be moving on. And I give my congratulations to Hickory; I thought they just played outstanding basketball.''
For 31/2 quarters the Hornets did, but Hickory allowed that 5-point lead to dissipate in the final five minutes by committing four turnovers and connecting on only 4 of 12 floor shots while being outscored 24-9.
Justin Dancak's pair of free throws provided Hickory with its largest lead of the game, but it was short-lived as Franklin embarked on a 9-2 spree during the ensuring 1:44, culminating in Jeff Leoffert's 3-point set shot from the right wing at the 3:19 mark that put the Knights back on top, 64-62.
Thirteen seconds later, Hickory's Marc Tiberia followed a missed Dancak drive with a put-back and subsequent free throw for what proved to be the Hornets' last lead, 65-64.
Franklin's Nathan Hager, who sat out 5:54 of the second half after picking up his fourth personal foul midway through the third quarter, drilled a top-of- the-key jumper with three minutes left to lift Franklin to a lead it never relinquished, 66-65.
Loeffert, who finished with a team-leading 20 points, highlighted an 8-0 spree by draining a pair of freebies, then scoring following a steal _ all in a 16-second span. When Hager added a pair of charity tosses at the 1:41 mark, the Knights' had an insurmountable 72-65 margin.
``There were a few times near the end there where we had a couple crucial turnovers,'' Dzuricsko summarized. ``We had our share of 3-point plays _ Justin Dancak drew some fouls and made some free throws down the stretch to give us a little bit of a lead there _ but there were plenty of other things we needed to do a little bit better to win the game.
``We just made some silly mistakes here and there,'' Dzuricsko continued. ``For example, we played a 3-2 zone, and then Loeffert hit the big `3' where we were wanted to match up, but we didn't communicate well and we left the guy open and he scored.''
Dzuricsko cited a few other examples, which collectively proved costly before reasoning, ``You really just can't afford to do that against a good team like Franklin and expect to win, just little things like miscommunication.''
The Hornets did well just to be in position to win the ballgame. At the outset, Hickory trailed 7-0 before Evans' six points and a Brad Bell drive at the buzzer drew the locals within 16-14 by the first frame's close.
Paced by Evans' 9-point, 6-rebound second stanza and Bell's additional six points, Hickory eventually forged to a 35-34 halftime lead following a second stanza that saw four ties and a half-dozen lead changes. Andy Chalot's drive as the buzzer droned drew Franklin _ which twice had 3-point leads during the period _ within one at intermission.
A 6-0 spurt at the outset of the second half enabled Franklin to build a 40- 35 margin at the 6:44 juncture, but Hickory responded with an Evans trey, Tiberia's short jumper, and Bell's drive and subsequent free throw to assume a 43-42 edge with 31/2 minutes left in the third period.
A pair of Elu Lawrence buckets sandwiched four points by teammate Dave Smith, as Franklin assumed a 50-43 bulge, before six Evans points and a pair of Bell freebies fueled an 8-0 Hornets' spurt into a 51-50 lead. Leoffert's free throw with no time remaining on the third-quarter clock knotted the count at 51 entering the final frame.
Notes: Hickory (15-12) connected on 19 of 50 (38 percent) floor shots and, led by Evans' 9-for-10 performance, 27 of 32 (84.4) free throws, compared with respective totals of 24 of 52 (46.2) and 28 of 35 (80 percent) for Franklin ... led by 6-foot-10 Sam Williams' game-high 13 caroms, the Knights outrebounded Hickory, 38-26 ... Hickory was guilty of a dozen turnovers.
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Updated Feb. 21, 1997
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