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NORTHVILLE — Jacob Frank may not have started the game, but he finished it with a milestone moment.
The senior guard entered Wednesday’s game against Oppenheim-Ephratah/St. Johnsville needing 18 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
With 2:04 left in the fourth quarter, Frank shrugged off pressure from the Wolves’ Collin Eakin to lay the ball in for his 1,000th point and help the Falcons defeat OESJ 59-42 in Western Athletic Conference boys’ basketball action at Northville High School.
“It was very nerve wracking and scary,” Frank said about having to sit out the Falcons’ last game with a shoulder injury. “We had all after school activities canceled yesterday due to the icy roads. So I wasn’t able to practice and I didn’t practice the day before, so I knew I couldn’t start. But I knew I would be coming in later.”
Northville got off to a quick start with Evan Tamulaitis hitting a early basket followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Chase Mitchell and Lance Edwards for an 8-0 less than two minutes into the game.
Coming out of a time out, Tristan Stever got the scoring going for the Wolf Pack with a 3-pointer. OESJ put up six unanswered points before Northville settle back into its offensive flow to finish the opening quarter with a 6-0 run to end the quarter with a 14-6 advantage.
Frank entered the game with 1:27 left in the opening quarter but scored his first points of the night early in the second quarter. He finished with eight points in the quarter as the Falcons pulled away for a 31-11 halftime advantage.
With control of the game, the focus turned to getting Frank to his scoring milestone.
However, it was OESJ that found the scoring touch with Dylan Barnes hitting a pair of 3-pointers for the Wolves in an 8-4 run to open the second half.
Frank missed his first four attempts in the third quarter and began passing up shots but found his teammates for open shots before finishing a three-point play for his only points of the third quarter, that ended with Landon Ginter hitting a 3-point shot from just over half court to put the Falcons up 41-24 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
Andrew Cordone stepped up to hit for six of the Falcons’ first eight points of the fourth quarter before Frank hit 3 out of 4 free throws and the milestone lay-up in a span of 46 seconds to get the 18 points he needed before exiting the game with 2:04 left to play.
“He was coming off an injury so we didn’t know how healthy he would be,” Northville varsity coach John Karbowski III said. “He said he was feeling pretty good tonight. He is a good player and a good leader on the floor. Jacob is a four year varsity player and has been a leader throughout. Even as a freshman he played a big part for us.”
Frank finished with 18 points, while Tamulaitis had 12 points and five blocked shots to go with 11 points from Cordone.
Barnes led OESJ with 18 points, including five 3-pointers, while Christensen finished with eight.
“To be one out of six with all the players who have come through this school is really something. I am glad I will be up there,” Frank said about having his name placed on the banner honoring the 1,000-point scorers. “I want to thank everybody. All the fans that come out to support us and not just tonight. I am just excited that I can be part of this athletic program.”
He joins Chip Gandy, who reached 1,371 in 1973, Mike Halloran (1,087/1980), Seth Yates (1,308/1994), Tucker Gifford (1,081/1995) and school record holder Danny Reidell who finished with 1,681 in 2017.
The Falcons will now focus on getting ready for a sectional run.
“This was a good team win. We had a lot of guys contribute tonight,” Karbowski said. “Every game we just want to get better. If we can do that, I think we can be competitive in sectionals. We have had a good season so far but we keep getting better every game.”
OESJ 6 5 13 18 — 42
Northville 14 17 10 18 — 59
OESJ scoring: Simzer 2-0-5, Christensen 3-1-8, Stever 2-0-5, Eakin 2-1-5, Walrath 0-1-1, Barnes 6-1-18. Northville scoring: Ginter 1-0-3, Frank 6-5-18, Artikuski 1-1-3, Mitchell 3-2-9, Edwards 1-0-3, Tamulaitis 6-0-12, Cordone 4-3-11. Scoring totals: OESJ 15-4-42. Northville: 22-11-59
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports
