Much of the pre-game press for Poly’s Division 1 boys’ basketball CIF first-round showdown with Great Oak centered on the Wolfpack’s point guard, LaBradford Franklin.  By the end of the game, the star power definitely belonged to the Jackrabbit defense, which held Franklin to eight points and three assists, en route to an impressive 82-53 win.

Just about every advantage that could have belonged to Poly did, as they showed in the opening quarter that they were bigger, stronger, more athletic, and faster than the visiting Wolfpack.  Throw in a relatively good shooting night for Poly (10-16 in the first quarter, 33-47 from the starting five plus Shelton Boykin), and Great Oak didn’t really stand much of a chance, particularly with Poly’s advantage in side.  Roshcon Prince, Ryan Anderson, and Boykin combined for 36 points and 19 rebounds, and essentially put a pretty big no man’s land in the center of the court, limiting Franklin’s ability to be creative.

Despite being outplayed and outmanned, the Wolfpack hung in the game (down six after the first quarter, and twelve at halftime) thanks to some incredible, quirky shooting in the first half, when they had 18 of their first 30 points off three-pointers.  “They hit four bank-shot threes, which I’ve never seen before,” said Poly coach Sharrief Metoyer.

As the shooting cooled down, Poly stepped it up offensively, opening the second quarter on a 13-0 run that essentially sealed the game, given the dominance of their defense.

Poly outscored Great Oak 40-23 in the second half, to clinch the first-round win.

Metoyer was pleased with the way his team shut down Franklin, and, while wishing they’d rotated to the other shooters better, said it wasn’t about style points.  “Honestly, we just wanted to win,” he said.  “It’s all about advancing right now.”  He also mentioned, “without those [four bank-shot three-pointers], they finish with 41 points, I’ll take that.”

Leaders for the Rabbits were Alex Carmon, who finished with 16, Anderson, who had 14 points and 7 boards, Boykin, who had 13 and 6, and Prince, who finished with nine points, seven boards, four steals, and two blocks, in a stat-filling performance typical of the freshman.

Leading scorer for Great Oak was Andrew Tuccinard, who had 18 points.

Poly will face the winner of Knight/ML King—we’ll keep you posted on the who, when, and where of Friday’s second round game!