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Not so silent Owls

Franklin drops 31, Oscoda routs Posen to remain undefeated

News Photo by Jonny Zawacki Oscoda’s Owen Franklin (14) soars to the rim for a basket during the third quarter of a boys basketball game on Thursday at Posen High School. Franklin dropped a game high 31 points in the Owls’ 67-37 victory over Posen.

POSEN — Owen Franklin proved why he is one of the top players in the area and the Oscoda boys basketball team continues to live up to its No. 8 ranking in Division 3.

Franklin poured in a game high 31 points in the Owls’ 67-37 victory over Posen on Thursday.

“Owen is shooting the ball at a real elite level right now. He’s been solid shooting the basketball for us, rebounding and he’s just been a really solid player,” Oscoda coach Mike Poland said. “We’re really happy with the win, we know Posen is a good, quality team and we wanted to come here and play good basketball and we knew they were going to make us earn it tonight and that’s exactly what we wanted. I’m really happy with the way we played tonight.”

The Vikings (6-4) showed no signs of backing down against Oscoda (9-0) early. Posen held a 10-8 lead after four minutes and tied with the Owls five minutes in. But the Owls ended the opening quarter strong, scoring the last 10 points to take an eight point lead after one.

The Vikings did all they could early in the second to cut into the lead, but another 10-0 run put the Owls up 31-14 midway through the quarter and Oscoda never looked back.

“We came into this with nothing to lose and they (Oscoda) had everything to lose. I have my own opinions on Oscoda in general. Fairview, Atlanta, Posen and Au Gres combine for Oscoda’s enrollment. They have ran off 29 straight league games and I look, because I’m interested about it and our league is has the biggest difference between the biggest and smallest school and it’s tough to compete,” Posen coach Chris Keller said. “I think for the fact that we have 66 kids in our school, I’m very proud of the effort our boys gave and we had opportunities early and we could have chipped away at that lead, but we had some unforced turnovers and some foul trouble that we have to work on, but overall, I thought we played a tough game and I know the score probably doesn’t show that. Oscoda is a good team and I wish them the best, but I’m proud of the way our guys played.”

The Owls held a 37-23 halftime lead behind Franklin’s 17 first half points.

Franklin and the Owls came out of the break hot as Oscoda extended its lead. Franklin scored his final 14 points of the game in the third quarter to give the Owls a commanding 55-29 lead as Oscoda was able to cruise to another big win to stay unbeaten.

Franklin drilled five of the Owls’ six threes as a team on the night and increased their average margin of victory. Oscoda has won all nine of its games by an average of nearly 40 points.

“We’re shooting the ball at about 40% from the three point line as a team and that’s been our goal this year to be shooting at a pretty elite level. A few years back, Hillman shot the three at an elite level for a few years in a row and we’ve studied such an elite program like them and we’re trying to shoot at an elite level, while balancing the floor and balancing our players,”Poland said. “We definitely aren’t resting on a ranking that’s for sure. We’re working hard every day and we have big goals and we understand we have to play at an elite level and play our best. We know we’re going to get everybody’s best and we want everybody’s best, this league is really good in basketball and everyone is giving us everything they got and it’s helping us and hopefully it’s helping them to play against a quality team like us. I think we’re doing a good job.”

Along with Franklin, the Owls received a double-digit scoring effort out of Gavin Lueck who finished with 10 points and Brayden Mallak added nine points.

Posen was led by George Kroll and Lucas Stone who each scored nine points apiece and Chase Dubie and Eyan Hincka each added seven points apiece.

Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday. Oscoda travels to Fairview and Posen takes on Presque Isle rival Rogers City.

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BOX SCORE: Field Goals Made/Free Throws Made/Free Throws Attempted/Total Points

OSCODA (67): M. Gepfrey, 2 2-2 7; D. Thomas, 1 0-0 2; G. Kellstrom, 2 0-0 4; B. Mallak, 3 3-4 9; G. Lueck, 5 0-1 10; I. Mantaw, 0 2-2 2; O. Franklin, 12 2-2 31; B. Apsitis, 1 0-0 2.

POSEN (37): C. Dubie, 2 2-3 7; L. Stone, 4 1-2 9; G. Kroll, 4 0-0 9; C. Paull, 2 1-2 5; E. Hincka, 3 1-2 7.

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