New Franklin improved to 14-1 on the season with a 77-44 rout of Community on Friday night. The game was initially scheduled to be played on the Bulldogs’ home court but was moved to Central Methodist University’s Puckett Field House due to water main issues in New Franklin.

Bulldogs coach Jim Schlotzhauer said moving to the larger college court definitely had an effect on his players.

“The floor is big,” he said. “I could tell our guys were getting pretty tired. But I knew they would get tired, too. We play more guys than they do. I feel like we're in pretty good shape, but it hit our boys pretty good there. You could tell we were hurting a little bit for the first half. In the second half, we kind of pushed through it.”

Schlotzhauer knows what it’s like to run up and down the court in Puckett, having played for Central Methodist in the late 90s.

“It's a good experience, though, going to a neutral site and playing a team that's competitive and see how it goes,” he said.

Even with both teams feeling the effects of the larger court, the scoreboard didn’t show it for New Franklin. The Bulldogs quickly jumped out in front with back-to-back 3-pointers from juniors Connor Wilmsmeyer and Tanner Bishop to go up 6-2 after the first minute. New Franklin would then go on to outscore the Trojans 14-6 over the remainder of the first quarter to take a 20-8 lead.

The two teams would match scoring in the second quarter with 15 each to enter halftime with New Franklin in the lead 35-23.

After Community cut the lead to 10 points in the opening seconds of the second half, the Bulldogs put the game nearly out of reach with nine straight points. A fourth 3-pointer by sharpshooter Bishop with 2:27 on the clock made New Franklin’s lead an even 20 points.

Community managed to come within 13 points in the third quarter but would get no closer. The Bulldogs continued scoring at will throughout the fourth, led by junior Sawyer Felton off the bench, with six of his 12 points coming in the final stanza.

“Sawyer is probably one of our highest I.Q. players,” Schlotzhauer said. “In practice, he's almost like a coach. He's a smart kid, and he knows where to be and when to be there.”

Leading the Bulldogs once again was junior Drake Clark with 16 points. The junior scored eight points in each half of the game to pace four double-digit New Franklin scorers. Bishop finished with 12 points, all scored from the 3-point arc.

Junior Connor Wilmsmeyer had another solid game, scoring 11 points. “He's a fast guy, and he's big and strong. He played really hard,” said Schlotzhauer. “I thought everybody did a good job of competing.”

Senior Clayton Wilmsmeyer finished the night with nine points.

Schlotzhauer applauded his team for gutting it out on the larger court while still playing a high-intensity game. “Even though they were getting tired, just being able to push through was big. Hopefully, that kind of a game will pay off later in the year.”

Community senior Gavin Allen led all scorers with 20 points on the night, 16 of which were scored from the post. Friday’s performance improved from when he scored 10 points the first time the two teams met in the New Franklin Tournament on January 5.

“He's tough. He got isolated one-on-one and made some really good moves,” Schlotzhauer said. “I like the way he plays.

“I thought Community played really well.  They did a better job of handling the ball. We certainly got them there at the end. It went from 12 to 32 pretty fast. But they hung in for a while,” continued Schlotzhauer. “They're kind of like the opposite of us. We are more guard heavy. But it's kind of nice to play a team that's the opposite of you. That's the thing about the way we're playing and pressing; every team is different. It's kind of a challenge to figure out how to play against different teams.”

New Franklin was to continue CAC action on Tuesday against Pilot Grove after the Advertiser had gone to press. On Thursday, the Bulldogs host Jamestown for the final game of the week.

On Tuesday, January 24, New Franklin will enter the Sturgeon Invitational Tournament as the second seed. The Bulldogs will take on seventh-seeded Paris at 7 p.m. in the high school gym. District rival and No. 1-ranked Westran is seeded first. The Hornets play bottom-seeded New Bloomfield at 7:30 p.m. in the middle school gym. It is possible the two could meet for the third time this season in the finals on January 28. New Franklin would likely have to get past third-seeded Salisbury in the semifinals.

As of January 10, New Franklin is ranked eighth in Class 2, one spot in front of ninth-ranked Salisbury. The Bulldogs defeated Salisbury 89-81 in double overtime in their second game of the season on November 22.

Westran continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in the state, despite losing by 14 for the New Franklin Tournament championship on January 7. The Hornets are also responsible for New Franklin’s only loss of the season so far, having defeated the Bulldogs in overtime in the semifinals of the Glasgow Tournament in November.

Looking ahead, it is also possible that the two teams could meet for a fourth time in the Class 2 District 7 Tournament. The district is one of the toughest in the state, boasting three top-10 teams in Westran, New Franklin, and Salisbury, along with the talented Harrisburg boys who have already knocked off two Class 4 teams this season.