FRANKLIN — The tandem of Caden Sullivan and Justice Samuels were too tough to handle for all four quarters as the No. 1 seed Franklin defeated the No. 16 seed North Andover, 62-54, in a fantastic back-and-forth MIAA Division 1 Round of 16 boys basketball game played Monday night before a standing room only crowd.
Sullivan, who drained a mid-range jumper just 2:30 into the second quarter to reach 1,000 points in his career, led the way with 28 points, and was also a pest on defense with five steals. Samuels was strong underneath the basket, finishing with 17 points.
Franklin, the defending Division 1 state finalists, jumped out to a 10-2 run before the Scarlet Knights tied it at 12 to end the first quarter. The Panthers took a six-point lead into the halftime break.
North Andover (13-9) had a two-point lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter before Franklin (23-1) went on a 7-0 run and never looked back. The Scarlet Knights did trim the deficit to two points with 2:44 to go, but a three-point play by Samuels led to the knock out.
North Andover High senior Cam Bethel was terrific in his final game, finishing with a team high 19 points. Trey Martin came off the bench and added ten points.