By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

The Franklin boys’ basketball team had ventured into the State Championship Final three times in the last decade, only to come away shorthanded each time. The Panthers endured heartbreak on the biggest stage in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, and then again, last year, Franklin once again made it to the State Final, putting together a 21-1 regular season that earned them the right to go up against the top seed in North High. North High would deprive the Panthers for the third time with a 59-53 loss.

Losing eight seniors that made it to last year’s Division 1 State Championship game, Coach CJ Neely had no idea what to expect coming into this season. The Franklin coach was looking just to be competitive night in and night out.

“We have a one-game-at-a-time mentality; we are never thinking of long-term goals, we are just looking to get better each and every day,” the Franklin Coach said. “We’re looking for singles, not homeruns. After losing the amount of guys we did after last year’s success, to get back to the State Final was something that we were not thinking about.”

Getting back-to-back play the Division State Final takes a lot of work and preparation and some luck as well. Franklin has now done it twice within 8 years. Midway through this year, Neely was excited about the way the Panthers were playing. The team was doing just what the coach was looking for; they were improving on a daily basis and the players were getting comfortable with their roles. Neely knew the best was still to come.

“We were competitive, and I saw that there wasn’t one dominant team out there,” Neely said. “There were about 10 or 12 teams that could have won it all, and we were in that mix. We knew that we could compete with just about anyone, win or lose.”

Franklin would go 21-1 during the regular season once again and this year found themselves as the number one seed entering the Division 1 State Tournament. The Panthers won all four of their games in getting to the Finals, outscoring their opponents (Shrewsbury, North Andover, Bridgewater-Raynham and Central Catholic) by an average of 17.5 points a game. While last winter, Franklin was the third seed going up against the number one seed, things were reversed this year. Newton North found themselves as the three seed and Franklin the one. 

The opening quarter found the two teams notched at 17, and by the half, Franklin went into the locker room up by a mere three points. With an entire half yet to be played, the Panthers opened the second half with an 8-point run to extend their lead and held a five-point lead going into the final stanza. Newton North was not ready to give up on its dream, either. Although they had captured back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, the Tigers had felt the same heartbreak that Franklin had endured in 2022 when BC High took home the Championship.

Senior Caden Sullivan would hit one of his two free-throws, giving Franklin a one-point lead, and with 6.1 seconds remaining on the clock, the senior was sent back to the line to sink both shots this time. The Panthers were now up by three. Newton North would get one final chance to tie the score, but their last shot was off the mark as time expired, and the Franklin Panthers would finally take home the boys’ basketball State Championship.

Sullivan would score 31 points and 8 rebounds in the victory and scored 11 of Franklin’s 13 points in the fourth quarter. 

“Caden was something special throughout the entire tournament. He and Jake (Olmstead) had an outstanding finals,” Neely said. “It all starts with Caden and how he competes and sets the tone. He builds everyone up around him.”

After getting to the top of the mountain for the fourth time, the Franklin coach was ecstatic about the team finally being able to plant the Franklin flag on the top in victory.

“It was super emotional to win this one; we’ve been here three times before with no championships to show for,” Neely said. “This was great for the guys on this year’s team, but it is a win is for all of us; everyone who has ever played for us. It’s a special brotherhood, and they put in a lot of hard work to not only get back here after last year, but to win it.”

In addition to Sullivan and Olmstead, the rest of the team that gave Franklin their first-ever boys basketball state championship included Justice Samuels, Joe Conlan, Seth O’Donnell, Wyatt Herndon, Zach Allen, Flynn Baker, Drew Greer, Ryan Wilson, Colin O’Leary, Hayden Morandi, Jack Sullivan, James Crowley, Nas Johnson and Danny Santos.