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Freshman Ethan Conley drives to the bucket Thursday against Arcanum in
the consolation
game of the annual Jet Tournament. Conley netted 32
points and grabbed six boards as the
Jets topped Arcanum 75-69. CNO
Photos by Dylan Knoop
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FM bounces back against Trojans
Jets play with
pride and passion in win over Arcanum
By George Starks
PITSBURG- In what many considered a lack luster performance by Franklin
Monroe in the opening round of the Jet tournament (due to the passing
of the Nestor children), FM came back in a huge way Thursday in the
consolation game against Arcanum.
Arcanum dumped in 15 three pointers against the Jets Thursday (two off
the record set by Versailles in 2003) but despite the barrage of
triples, Franklin Monroe posted a 75-69 come from behind victory.
Trailing at the first two breaks, 17-14 and 42-36 at the half, FM came
out in the third quarter looking like a team.
The Jets outscored Arcanum 15-9 in the frame to gain a 51-51 tie going
into the final eight minutes.
Led by a 32 point performance from freshman Ethan Conley and a 16
point, 13 rebound day from senior Zach Hyre, it was a fourth quarter
that had FM coach Troy Meyers smiling.
“I was smiling. It was the first time in about 24 hours,” Franklin
Monroe boys basketball coach Troy Myers said. “It’s been a tough go and
I was very disappointed last night in our effort. It was the most
disappointed I have ever been in the last four years with our program
because I thought the effort didn’t pay respect to the Nestor family
and obviously to the fans here watching us in our own holiday
tournament.
“We came in this morning, and I made it pretty clear that they knew
just that.” Meyers went on to say. “Our assistant coach Lane Lucas did
a good job of speaking with the guys because I was at a loss for words.
I don’t know what he told them, but he talked about our standards and
what Franklin Monroe basketball is all about. The guys were ready to go
in a different way today. It wasn’t pretty, and it was back and forth
all the way, but we found a way to hold the lead in the end, which
isn’t something we have been able to do all year.”
After the Trojans connected on five long range bombs with three coming
from the hot hand of senior Austin Baker in the first quarter, that
barrage continued in the second stanza as freshman Wade Meeks nailed
three while Baker added two more with Cole Burrell and Brandon Kinney
getting in on the act, despite blasting a 2-3 zone set up by FM as the
Trojans were 12 of 22 in the first half from beyond the arc.
“We haven’t played a zone all year. In fact we just put it in this
morning because we can’t defend,” Myers admitted. “I told our guys at
halftime we aren’t going to change. It was our game plan. They are
going to have to shoot 12 more in the second half to beat us. They
almost beat us but they didn’t make 12 of them. We did a better job of
defending and drying up their sweat, and we controlled the glass,
turning it into a possession game.”
In the end, the weight of the Jets victory fell on the freshman, Conley.
“Conley was good tonight. Honestly it wasn’t just because he scored 32
points. You saw the way he was on the glass, the loose balls he was
going after, just scrapping,” Myers said.
Arcanum got the 15th team 3-pointer on the night (two shy of the 17
made by Versailles back in 2003) from Meeks to close the gap to 70-65.
“We talked about it at halftime, what’s going to happen when the shots
stop falling,” Arcanum coach Marcus Bixler said. “We shot well in the
first half. It’s hard to do that for a whole game … I told our guys we
have to get stops. We struggled all year long to get the big stops when
we need it.”
“I don’t know if the kid (Conley) knows what he doesn’t know. He’s just
a freshman. His nature when he came in here was to bang guys. It didn’t
matter if it was Hyre or who it was. You can’t teach that to a young
guy. He just wants help this program,” Myers said.
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Franklin Monroe senior Zach Hyre scores two of his 16 points.
Hyre also
yanked down 13 rebounds.
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