New Franklin played near-perfect basketball over the final minutes of the first half on Thursday at Slater. The Bulldogs finished the second quarter on a 22-4 run and scored the final 12 points of the half. New Franklin ended up needing every single one of those points as the game came down to the final possession.

Slater missed, and the Bulldogs escaped with a 58-57 win and a 19-0 record.

“We just knew that when we have a chance to knock down a shot, you’ve got to knock it down tonight,” New Franklin coach Ross Dobson said.

The Bulldogs knocked them down, especially from the 3-point line, where New Franklin made seven out of 11.

Slater led 11-3 early in the game, but two 3-pointers from Gavin Bishop and a 3-point play from Tre Cowans cut into the lead. Tyler Perkins cut the lead to one point with a steal and score just before the first quarter ended.

Then Slater went on an 8-0 run.

Bishop said that his team’s mental approach was key in that moment.

“Never giving up, just knowing that it’s not over until it’s over,” he said.

“They went on a run there for a little bit, they were up by seven or eight. We just came back and did what we need to do; push the ball up and score the points that we need to score.”

Perkins and Bishop ended the run with a pair of triples. Perkins’ next three tied the game at 27-27. Bishop gave New Franklin the lead for good with a 3-point play and Tysen Dowell scored to keep the run going. Again, Perkins stole the ball and scored the final points of the quarter.

New Franklin led 36-27 at the half. Bishop scored 14 points in the first half and finished with 21. Cowans had nine in the first half and finished with 13. Perkins led all scorers with 22.

Aden Campbell led Slater with 16. 

The Bulldogs led by 14 midway through the third quarter before Slater started to come back. Three 3-pointers cut the lead to 49-44. Perkins scored nine of New Franklin’s last 11 points as Slater closed the game on a 24-11 run.

With a 54-47 lead, Perkins missed a shot, grabbed the rebound and threw it off of a Wildcat defender as he fell out of bounds, recovered and collected the ball himself, and scored off the backboard over the Slater post defender.

It was the kind of effort, awareness, and execution that the Bulldogs needed to pick up a road win against a tough conference opponent.

“Coming into this place, we knew it was going to be loud,” Dobson said. “I told the boys that we just have to make sure that we work together as a group, work together as one.

“It was a battle of two good teams, and they both worked extremely hard the whole game.”

New Franklin 52, Jamestown 45

New Franklin took its perfect record to Jamestown on Monday and faced a team and crowd that were ready to go. The Eagles had a 28-23 lead at halftime, but New Franklin allowed just 17 points in the second half, coming back for the 52-45 win.   

Gavin Bishop scored 24 points and Tre Cowans had 14 for the Bulldogs, who stayed perfect at 18-0 for the season.

“This game was a battle from the start,” New Franklin coach Ross Dobson said.

“Jamestown brought tough pressure and an electric atmosphere. It was tough to go on the road and pull out a victory. I am proud that our guys never gave up and worked hard for this win.”

New Franklin took a 38-36 lead into the fourth quarter and outscored Jamestown 14-9 over the final stretch.

Tyler Perkins and Tysen Dowell each had seven points in the victory.