For a second straight night at 3A Sectional 29 in Connersville, Lawrenceburg erased a double-digit deficit and, this time, knocked off Franklin County 45-39.
Coach Mark Foster’s Wildcats pitched a 9-0 shutout in the first quarter and led by as many as 15 in the first half. It was 23-11 at intermission.
FC’s Brant Ertel had six points at the break. Teammates Bridger Bolos and Jace Lee both scored four. For LHS, Logan Rohrer put in five.
In the second half, 11 turnovers for the Wildcat proved to be their undoing. The Brookville boys managed just four field goals over the final 16 minutes and were outscored 34-16.
Franklin County had just a four-point lead by the end of the third (30-26), then coach Brad Cutter’s Tigers passed the Cats in the fourth to win by six.
Leading scorers for Lawrenceburg were Logan Ahaus with 11, Jackson Bobo with 10 and nine each by Rohrer and Dahya Patel. Ashton Craig had a team-high seven rebounds while Garrett Yoon had a team-best three steals.
Franklin County scoring saw Chad Cox post nine, Ertel add eight while Bolos and Lee each notch seven. Cox topped the team in rebounds with 10. Both Ertel and Lee had three dishes.
While Franklin County (14/33) hit two more field goals than Lawrenceburg (12/33), the Tigers won the game at the line sinking 16-of-26 compared to 9-of-15 for the Wildcats. LHS had a slim advantage on the boards (26-22) and won the turnover battle by five (10-15).
Franklin County is still looking for its first championship since consolidation. The last boys hoops title won in Franklin County was as the Brookville Greyhounds in 1988. The Cats do finish a great season with the most wins in Franklin County history with 18 (18-5), exceeding the 16-win total from 2001-02 (16-7).
This was the first sectional title for Lawrenceburg since 2009 and the program’s first as a 3A school. The Tigers are now 20-7 and will take on 17-9 Evansville Bosse in the first game of the Washington Regional this Saturday. The second game will pit 13th ranked North Harrison at 19-3 against No. 4 Sullivan which is 23-2.
We thank Connersville AD Brent Duncan for the accomodations and great hospitality. We also thank coaches Foster and Cutter for the information they supplied.