Ben Franklin holds off Sabino in Elite-8 of 3A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Saturday, February 22nd I watched #1 seed<strong>&nbsp;Ben Franklin</strong>&nbsp;host #8 seed<strong> Sabino</strong>&nbsp;in the Elite-8 of the 3A state playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first quarter was a big start for BF with a 21-12 lead after 1 led by [player_tooltip player_id='2249646' first='Talan' last='Speir'] strong play. By halftime BF led 30-19 and you assumed they would cruise in the 2nd half but they didn't. Sabino came out on fire and outscored BF 15-9 to cut the gap with a 39-34 BF lead. Sabino got it down to 41-39 with another 5-2 run. Ben Franklin made some clutch plays down the stretch and held off Sabino to win <strong>53-48.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the standouts of the Elite-8 3A playoff game</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2766897' first='Jonathan' last='Hall'] Ben Franklin&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the stars of the game was Jonathan. He scored 15 points with layups in traffic, pick and roll slips to the hoop and he made a big clutch three late in the game. He will block a shot, rebound and score off of the glass.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2249646' first='Talan' last='Speir'] Ben Franklin&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A super athletic guard played some on the ball tonight but is mostly looking to score. He set the tone early with blow by layups, mid-range jumpers and threes in rhythm. He scored 9 points and the defense felt his presence.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2533653' first='Bennett' last='Christensen'] Ben Franklin&nbsp;(Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The point guard had the ball in his hands most of the night and truly guided the team to the victory. He made some good looks to his teammates and made a clutch blow by layup down the stretch. He will score with off balanced layups thru the contact and/or get fouled. He scored 7 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2136461' first='Tyler' last='Pluid'] Ben Franklin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard takes a lot of pressure off of their guards to score. He will score smartly with cuts for layups, he will score with offense rebound put backs and hit the catch three. He scored 7 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2333014' first='Brody' last='Hansen'] Ben Franklin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A critical piece to their puzzle and possibly a 3A Chip-run may be Brody. He comes off the bench and he has a fluid handle and a little burst to get past his defenders and will shoot the three off the catch with a high arcing release. He scored 7 points.  </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2784379' first='Brendan' last='Gargus'] Sabino&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard plays on or off the ball often. He is very skilled with off the dribble threes and can get to the basket with his left or right hand. He will score on offensive rebound put backs and is tough on defense to collect steals. He also has good court vision and scored 12+ points.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2784393' first='Caden' last='Watkins'] Sabino&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A sturdy framed bigger guard or wing forward is tough to get downhill and has skill. He can pull-up from mid-range off the dribble and uses his physicality to get on the glass and score from the free throw line. He scored 11+ points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2786361' first='Spencer' last='Larson'] Sabino&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A two-way physical undersized combo guard. He is tough and quick on the ball to collect steals and will turn them into layups on the other end. He will score with quick bursts to the basket or get fouled and earn it on the free throw line. He scored 11+ points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2784428' first='Chris' last='Herndon'] Sabino&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A quick point guard who will play on the ball to guide some of the offense. He will also score with blow by's with a quicker first step plus he has a sharp mid-range pull-up off the dribble. He scored 6+ points. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->