FRANKLIN, Mass. - ’Tis the season of giving and Oliver Ames senior Ryan Carney was certainly in the holiday spirit on Monday night.
Carney notched a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists to help the Tigers spoil Franklin’s first game in their new gym, 68-63.
For the second straight game, Carney proved he’s more than just a scorer and he picked up six of his helpers in the second half.
“He’s doing a lot of stuff,” Oliver Ames head coach Don Byron said. “Last game, he just filled up the stat sheet. His game has a maturity about it now that he’s developed over the year.”
Franklin (2-1) had the lead at the end of the first quarter, 18-14, but Oliver Ames took a 34-31 lead into the halftime break and then a 51-49 lead into the final quarter.
Click HERE for a photo gallery from the game.
Oliver Ames (2-1) was able to get their biggest lead of the second half thanks to senior guard Chris Kyne. Kyne netted 10 of his game-high 21 points in the final frame. First, he was able to get to the rim for a bucket and was fouled. Even though he missed the free throw, Brendan Flynn snagged the rebound and Kyne sank a three from the corner to make it 57-51.
Franklin got it within one possession at 57-55, but two free throws from Kyne and then Carney extended the lead back to six at 61-55. To ice the game, Carney drove to the basket to draw three defenders and simply passed it off to Flynn, who laid it in from right under the basket to make it 63-55. Kyne and Carney combined for OA’s final five points.
“It’s a real good win,” Byron said. “That’s a good team, a good program year in and year out. The whole atmosphere of coming in here is always difficult, the kids are a raucous bunch. I thought we played pretty even keel and we had some big things happen along the way. Chris Kyne for instance had a couple big ones, hit that three in the corner.”
The Panthers were able to jump out to an early lead being a hot start from senior Dylan Reno. Reno went a perfect 5-5 from the field to start the game for 13 points. But from that point on, Oliver Ames outscored the Panthers 20-13 in the second quarter and then 34-32 in the second half.
“I thought we got out-toughed right off the bat, I think that’s the story of the game,” Franklin head coach CJ Neely said. “They hurt us on the boards and our turnovers killed us as well. I think as a team we need to do a better job of valuing the ball.
“Credit OA, they played a great game. We didn’t do well defensively. We reached and we fouled a lot and some of our starters were sitting early.”
One player that missed a good chunk of time was 6’7” center Marcus Giese, who got in foul trouble early in the game and missed the entire second quarter. Giese had averaged 11.5 points through the first two games and had 10 rebounds in the Panthers opening game. His absence was a big reason OA was able to grab 15 offensive boards.
Oliver Ames used a zone defense for the majority of the game, which helped keep the Tigers out of foul trouble. The Tigers also used a press at points in the second quarter, which helped turned the tide in their favor.
“There was a portion in their when we extended the defense and had some luck with that,” Byron said. “It was being call closed and you knew there was going to be some fouls so we just tried to take advantage of that. We just wanted to make sure we stayed out of trouble so we went to some zone and it’s been OK for us and we’ve had some success with it.”
Beyond Carney and Kyne, senior Brendan Welch had 11 points and five rebounds, Brendan Flynn added six points and seven rebounds and Rael Handy had six points and five steals.
Reno and Shawn Hanley each had a team-high 15 points for the Panthers while Tim Prunier added 10 points while Giese finished with seven points and three boards and Dan Robert added six points and five boats.
Oliver Ames will host Acton-Boxboro on Sunday in the Muscato Holiday Tournament at 7:00. Franklin will participate in the Shooting Touch Shootout at Tufts University and will take on Catholic Central (NY) on Saturday at 3:45.
Click HERE for a photo gallery from the game.
Ryan Lanigan can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @R_Lanigan.