Defense Keys Watchung Hills Victory Over Franklin

Defense wins games—that’s a popular notion in most any sport, but on Tuesday night, that’s exactly what the Watchung Hills boys basketball team did in the 4th quarter against Franklin in their 51-47 win on their home court.

Up 42-40 going into the final frame, the Watchung defense allowed only three field goals and seven total points to the potent Franklin offense.

“That was huge—I didn’t even realize we only gave up three field goal,” Watchung Head Coach Justin Salton said.  “We did a real good job switching up our defenses and executing the defenses that we were in.  We played smart tonight, unlike last time.” 

Salton’s players echoed his sentiments.

“It was the reason why we won.  When you hold a team to [seven] points, it’s huge,” forward Brandon Spiller said.

“We’re a good defensive team,  our defense pulled together,”  forward Billy Pinho added.

From an all around standpoint, Coach Salton was pleased with just about everything.

“All season we give great effort, it comes down to consistency and execution.  Tonight, we executed in the big stretches of the game,” he said.  “Every guy embraced their role tonight and fulfilled it.  That’s why we’re successful.  I’m so proud of the guys.”

Watchung (5-13) got off to a great start in the first four minutes of the ballgame, as Clayton O’Brien scored his team’s first 8 points, making it an 8-4 lead.  But over the next minute, full court pressure by Franklin (8-6) forced multiple Watchung turnovers as they put up 10 points of their own, giving them the 14-8 lead with just over 3 minutes to go. 

Watchung responded before the quarter ended with a Greg Stone layup and a pair of field goals from Steve Weidlich, one of them a 3 pointer, as the Watchung Hills Warriors trailed just 16-15 at the end of one period.

Turning it around before the first quarter ended was a big point in the game according to junior forward Brandon Spiller.

“Their pressure was good in the beginning, but we settled down—took a step back and a deep breath,” he said.

The second period started out as a stalemate, as both teams struggled to get any offense going as Franklin led 20-18 with 4 minutes left in the first half.  But then both teams went to work, exchanging leads over the next few minutes.  Steve Weidlich hit a three for Watchung with just over 3 minutes left, putting his squad up 21-20.  After falling behind 24-22 with just under 2 minutes to play, guard Greg Stone knocked down a three to propel Watchung back on top.  Tied 25-25, Billy Pinho knocked down two free throws with just over a minute to go, before Franklin tied things up with a Karl Gray jumpshot with just 3 seconds left, making it a 27-27 game at the half.

Watchung seized the lead just a minute into the third quarter, as Clayton O’Brien converted on a layup.  Then in a span of 30 seconds, Franklin put together a 6-0 run, putting the pressure back on Watchung Hills.  Still down 5 with under 4 minutes left, Matt Musmanno connected on a jumper and just 15 seconds later Steve Weidlich pumped in a layup, cutting it to a 38-37 Franklin lead.  Watchung closed out the period strong thanks to forward Billy Pinho.  Pinho converted a layup with two minutes to go and then 60 seconds later, popped in another and was fouled.  He converted the free throw, giving Watchung the 42-40 lead with just a quarter to go.

The Watchung defense smothered Franklin in the 4th quarter.  After Franklin tied the game a minute in, Steve Weidlich nailed a 3 pointer with less than 6 minutes to go, giving Watchung the lead at 45-42.  They would never lose the lead from that point on.  A minute and a half later, Watchung responded to a Franklin basket with a Billy Pinho layup, putting the lead back to 3.  A minute later Franklin closed the lead to 1.  With two minutes left, Watchung got their answer as Clayton O’Brien tossed in a layup, making it 49-46 with two minutes left. 

With just 30 seconds left, Franklin drew it to a 2 point lead thanks to a free throw.  Just 8 seconds later, Greg Stone was left alone all the way up the court and had an easy layup with just over 20 seconds left, making it a 4 point lead for Watchung.  Franklin came down the floor and missed a 3 pointer, the rebound was pushed ahead to Greg Stone as he was fouled with just 7 seconds left, and Watchung still nursing a 4 point lead.  Stone missed the front end of a 1 and 1, but time would run out on Franklin and Watchung came away with the 51-47 win against an extremely tough county foe.

“It says a lot [to go toe-to-toe with Franklin], they’re the number three team in the county," Salton said. "They’re in the quarterfinals on Saturday.  It just goes to show you we can play with anyone.  If we put a full game together, we can beat anyone.”

With just a few games left, Watchung is building towards next season.

“Huge [building block going forward].  We only have one senior, we’re out of county’s, conferences, states, so we said it’s a six game season after the loss on Saturday and this is the first step towards next season,” Coach Salton said.  “So we took game 1 of 6 today and we got 5 more games left.”

“This is probably our biggest win," Billy Pinho said. "We’ll go to practice tomorrow and just build on this and carry it on.  We’re a better team than people say we are.”

Watchung’s next game is at home 7 p.m. Monday against Hillsborough.