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Goins, Thompson lead Franklin in overtime

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Franklin’s Shawn Goins (left) and Fairport’s LaShard Lowry, Jr. (right) battle for possession during Monday’s Class AAA semifinal. Franklin defeated Fairport in overtime, 72-68. (Photo: LAURA ACCIAIO)

By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y — Shawn Goins and Clarence Thompson connected on back-to-back 3-pointers in overtime to cap a late rally as No.3 Franklin defeated No. 2 Fairport, 72-68 in Section V Class AAA semifinal action from Gates Chili High School, Monday night.

Franklin (14-6) advanced to Friday’s championship game and will face No. 4 UPrep.

With the frontcourt tandem of Kollin McCullough and Terence Thompson on the bench after fouling out, Franklin turned to its guard to win the game.

VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM LAURA ACCIAIO. 

Goins delivered his fourth triple of the night from the top of the key and on the next possession, Thompson hit what proved to be the game winner with 12.7 seconds remaining in the extra session.

“I wanted to get the two of them on the same side of the floor because I knew they (Fairport) couldn’t check both of them,” said Franklin head coach Joe Jackson. “Penetrate and kick, whichever one of them got the shot, we were going to take it. Both of them nailed threes. That was huge.”

Franklin trailed 55-48 early in the fourth quarter before using an 8-3 run over the final 3:49 of regulation to send the game to overtime. The Bulldogs extended their defense and forced three turnovers while not allowing a field goal during that stretch.

“Earlier in the season, we were playing a diamond press,” Jackson said. “That was the difference tonight. We sped the game up a little bit. It got us some steals. It got us going. We were kinda stale. We played 1-3-1 a little too long. Aidan (White) was killing us from the corners. We knew we had to do something different.”

Clarence Thompson slipped along the baseline for a reverse layup. McCullough connected in the lane. Terence Thompson converted free throws on consecutive possessions before scoring in the lane to tie the game at 60.

McCullough hit a wing 3 with less than a minute to go for a brief 63-61 edge. It was Franklin’s first lead in the game since a 20-19 edge with 1:34 remaining in the first quarter.

White connected on two free throws for Faiport to send the game to overtime.

“Everybody contributed for us tonight,” Jackson said. “Our momentum started coming, and we kept fighting. I could see it in their eyes, and we just had to go out and finish it. Proud of these guys.”

Goins led four in double figures with 22 points. Terence Thompson scored 19 including the 1,000th of his career. McCullough and Clarence Thompson had 14 apiece.

Franklin is looking to win its first sectional championship since the Class A title in 2001.

“I’m just trying to get one right now,” Jackson said smiling. “We want to fill the shoes of the old-school championship teams. We got that opportunity today.”

Fairport’s White led all scorers with 26 points. Junior point guard LaShard Lowry, Jr. added 18.

“Lowry is definitely a top-notch point guard,” Jackson said. “We just kept putting different guys on him to try and keep him away from the basket. We did a good job on him. We started containing him down the stretch.”

Landon Brunken had 13 for the Red Raiders (16-5).

FRANKLIN
Shawn Goins 6 6-8 22, Isaiah Caruthers 1 0-0 3, Kollin McCullough 5 0-1 14, Terence Thompson 6 7-10 19, Clarence Thompson 5 1-2 14, Lavante Brown 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 23 14-21 — 72

FAIRPORT
Nick Smith 1 0-0 3, LaShard Lowry, Jr. 4 9-12 18, Landon Brunken 5 0-0 13, Drew Sisson 0 0-0 0, Will Stanek 1 0-0 3, Alex Grejda 1 0-0 2, Aidan White 9 5-5 26, Marques Garrett 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 22 14-17 — 68

FRANKLIN 20 16 12 15 9 — 72
FAIRPORT 25 15 13 12 5 — 68

3-point FRANKLIN 12 (Goins 4, Caruthers 1, McCullough 4, Clarence Thompson 3); FAIRPORT 10 (Smith 1, Lowry 1, Brunken 3, White 4).

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