Franklin Regional boys basketball coach Jesse Reed’s heart may not take many more games like the two in the Rettger Memorial basketball tournament.
His Panthers rallied in the fourth quarter to claim the tournament title with wins against Seneca Valley, 43-37, and Quaker Valley, 49-48 overtime, last week.
The lone starter from last year’s historic season, Connor Crossey, came up big in both games.
Crossey scored 18 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter, against Seneca Valley.
The next night, he helped lead the Panthers to an intense comeback. Crossey hit a layup with 10 seconds left in overtime for the Panthers.
The Panthers outscored the Quakers, 22-7, in the fourth quarter to erase a 37-22, deficit. Crossey finished with 16 points. They scored 21 points in the fourth quarter against Seneca Valley.
“It was a good first game for them to kind of shock the system and let them know that the season’s here,” Reed said after the Seneca Valley win. “Connor took over for us in the second half. He made a bunch of free throws down the stretch. So, I was really proud of him and proud of his composure.”
Reed said leadership is what he’s looking for from Crossey.
Seneca Valley’s defense forced Franklin Regional to play a different style.
“You just have to go out and play basketball,” Reed said. “We had to take advantage of different situations. It’s hard to run an offense when they play defense like they did.”
Jonah Johnston also scored 16 points against Quaker Valley, and Anthony Mitchell scored 10 against Seneca Valley.
“We were able to play with patience in the fourth quarter and get down the court easier,” Crossey said. “It really helped us thrive and get out in transition and get easy buckets. Playing with patience just helps us overall.”
Crossey said being past of last year’s team that was WPIAL 5A runner-up and advanced into the PIAA tournament has been helpful in building experience.
“Seeing how Cam (Rowell), Fin (Hutchison), Cooper (Rankin) and Colin (Masten) handled things last year helped me become a better player in the sport,” Crossey said.
The Panthers open Section 1-5A play Thursday (Dec. 13) at Penn-Trafford.
They were scheduled to play Greensburg Central Catholic (Dec. 6) and Hempfield (Dec. 7) in the Hempfield tournament and played at Kiski Area on Dec. 10.