Been Franklin: The Rebels Roll Again

<p>Franklin visited the senior-laden Brentwood Bruins Tuesday night in a riveting battle of top flight teams.  The Rebels won, 46-44, thanks to stout defense and tough buckets in tight and timely late free throws.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="775568" first="Matthew" last="Thurman"] played particularly well against a sturdy BHS frontline.  Thurman used his lower body power to entrench deep numerous times.  Though the Bruin bigs challenged, they too often fouled the excellent free throw shooter.  Thurman is a wonderful weapon for Franklin and often he can be seen out around the arc.  Because Thurman’s composure is solid and his handle is better than the average bear (er, big man) he can help initiate offense and free up [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"] to run off the ball.  As an added bonus, Thurman operating out high, or wide as it were, draws out one of the taller defenders and opens the lane a touch for drivers.</p> <p>Davis White (Brentwood) knocked down a monster three-pointer just before the minute mark, temporarily drawing the surging Bruins within three points.  Franklin found a little cushion from the hands of star guard [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"].  Making free throws late is kinda what [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"] does. Kemp, frustratingly for Brentwood, knocked down almost all of his final minute free throws.  Davis proved wisely late to set up his teammate for a quick score.  It was one of Davis’ best games this season.</p> <p><a class="pn-player-link" href="https://prephoops.com/player/aidan-smylie/"><span class="name-pointer">player_tooltip player_id="954811" first="Aidan" last="Smylie"]</span></a>* (2021) - Aidan was again wonderful in both the mid-range and handling the ball.  Smylie’s height and quickness make him a tough matchup.  Brentwood pressures from a 2-3 zone and Smylie frequently stabbed to the heart of that zone.  From there he created well. Smylie’s game is so lovable.  The cuts are sharp.  The movement off the ball is meaningful and productive. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1116455" first="Griffin" last="Burke"]</strong> was a solid player, as he always is.  Through much of the game he did not find much space to look to score though.  Facing a deeply talented and sizable FHS team, the Bruins desperately needed more from Griffin.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="775552" first="John" last="Windley"]</strong> took a low-percentage shot late in the thrid quarter and made it.  Franklin was not allowing high-percentage shots all night.  John took it upon himself to take a chance, something that Brentwood’s offense and defense are certainly not predicated on, and it paid off.  Overall, BHS played overly passive and appeared to be somewhat searching offensively.  In the final minute, Windley missed an off-balanced long two only to recover his miss and bank home a deuce.  Windley came alive late when it mattered.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Partial Rosters w/ *Starters</strong></span></p> <p><strong>Franklin<br /> </strong>#1 Taylor Spierto* (2021)<br /> #4 [player_tooltip player_id="775559" first="Reed" last="Kemp"]* (2021)<br /> #5 <a class="pn-player-link" href="https://prephoops.com/player/aidan-smylie/"><span class="name-pointer">[player_tooltip player_id="954811" first="Aidan" last="Smylie"]</span></a>* (2021)<br /> #10 <a class="pn-player-link" href="https://prephoops.com/player/connor-beavon/"><span class="name-pointer">[player_tooltip player_id="775604" first="Connor" last="Beavon"]</span></a>* (2021)<br /> #32 Matt Thurman* (2022)<br /> #35 Mason Jones (2022)</p> <p><strong>Brentwood<br /> </strong>#10 [player_tooltip player_id="775552" first="John" last="Windley"] (2021)<br /> #12 [player_tooltip player_id="1116455" first="Griffin" last="Burke"]* (2021)<br /> #24 [player_tooltip player_id="983722" first="Macen" last="Redner"]* (2021)<br /> #30 <a class="pn-player-link" href="https://prephoops.com/player/jack-medalie/"><span class="name-pointer">[player_tooltip player_id="1029084" first="Jack" last="Medalie"]</span></a> (2023)<br /> #32 Joseph Hohn (2021)<br /> #34 Daniel Cochran* (2023)<br /> #44 [player_tooltip player_id="1116456" first="Dustin" last="Bluhm"]* (2021)<br /> #14 Carter Patton (2022)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Follow @PrepHoopsTN.</em></p>