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Franklin
Franklin Monroe’s Devon Fourman goes up and under Tri-Village defender Tyler Cook during action in the championship game Tuesday between the Patriots and Jets.
The host Jets topped the Patriots 47-34 in a low scoring affair.
CNO Photos by Dylan Knoop
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FM wins Holiday Tournament
Patriots fall from unbeaten ranks
By George Starks
Sports Editor
PITSBURG- When the 49th Annual Jet Holiday Basketball Tournament tipped off Monday night at ‘The Hangar’, two teams entered as unbeaten teams.
Both Troy Christian and Tri-Village left the tournament Tuesday having suffered their first defeat and the team that had the pleasure of doing the deed was Franklin Monroe.
No one saw it coming.
After holding off the undefeated Eagles Monday, 55-53, the homesteading Franklin Monroe Jets won the 2011 edition of the Jet Holiday Basketball Tournament Tuesday with a 47-34 victory over the Patriots in the championship game at ‘The Hangar’.
In what can be called a total team effort, the Jets strung together four quarters of near perfect basketball to upend the Patriots.
“Two nights in a row we have executed our game plan,” said FM coach Marcus Bixler. “We had one hour today to prepare for this game and my kids were ready. After we beat Troy Christian Monday, and knowing Tri-Village had won, my kids were relishing the thought of having another shot at them after losing to them the first game of the season. I have to give my kids credit. We had one hour to prep for this game and they had the mental capability to persevere and do what they had to do to get the job done.”
The three keys to winning were simple:
1.) Shut or slow down the Patriots big guns. The Jets held junior Kyle Pipenger to just 13 points and sophomore Tyler Cook to seven. With senior Evan Barger scoring 14 and getting 12 rebounds, no one else in the Patriots line-up, got into the score book.
2.) Protect the ball and play stingy defense. Franklin Monroe committed just 13 turnovers on the night while the Patriots had 18 miscues.
3.) Control the ball on offense which allowed the Jets to control the clock. By not getting into a running game and controlling the ball, the Jets took the Patriots strength away from them by keeping the game to under 85 points total for both teams combined.
“We are not a high octane offense. For us, we have to pound the ball inside and get stops on defense and work the ball from the inside out and that’s exactly what we did tonight,” said Bixler. “We knew coming in that we couldn’t stop everyone but we knew if Werner and Brubaker got hot from outside, we were in trouble. I don’t think those two even scored. So we did a great job of taking them away and there were some things we thought we could do. Defensive execution. We did what we had to do. We took the ball out of their hands. I think Pipenger was losing his legs a little as the game wore on because he was leaving shots short that he usually doesn’t miss. He’s tough to guard and he’s a heck of a player.”
Monday night against the Eagles, sophomore Travis Fietshans went out, netted 18 to lead the Jets in scoring.
Tuesday against the Patriots, he backed up Monday nights performance with 14 more, earning him Tournament MVP honors.
“Travis had a heck of a tournament,” Bixler said. “This was a team that just went out and got the job done. All week long, that was the motto, ‘go out and do your job’. We did that the last two nights. Do what you can do but don’t play outside your limits. Travis cam up big knocking down some huge shots for us but the other seven or eight guys that was out there played just as well as Travis. This was a team win. My kids came out and we were ready.”
This was the third year in a row the Jets have won the tournament. In 2009, FM topped Versailles 59-49 and then beat Arcanum last year 58-54.
Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester was not available for comment.
In the consolation game, Troy Christian bounced back from a 55-53 loss on Monday night to pop Arcanum 49-34 for third place in the four-team tournament.
TV junior Kyle Pipenger shoots over Travis Feitshans (24) and Jaden Horner (5) of FM.
The Jet All Tournament team from L to R: Christian Salazar (TC), Kyle Pipenger and Tyler Cook (TV) and Trey Mong, Jaden Horner and Travis Feitshans (FM).
Feitshans was names tournament MVP.
The Franklin Monroe Jets, 2011 tournament champions.
Arcanum’s Grady Garno loses control of the ball against a very tough Troy Christian defense.
The Trojans lost to the Eagles in the consolation game 49-35.
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