FRANKLIN, Mass. — After the on-court celebrations had concluded, and he had finished shaking hands with anyone who wanted, Franklin head coach CJ Neely had more stop to make. He opened the doors from the gym and ran down the hallway to the locker room, where his team was waiting for another celebration.
Despite his best efforts, Neely emerged from the locker room soaked from water. He wasn’t complaining.
“I dodged the first couple shots and then I got doused,” Neely said.
For a second consecutive season, Franklin has advanced to the MIAA Division 1 Final Four after the top-seeded Panthers (24-1) pulled away late for a 63-50 victory over No. 8 Bridgewater-Raynham on Thursday night. Franklin will face the winner of Friday night’s matchup between No. 4 Central Catholic and No. 5 Lowell next week at a date, time and location to be determined.
After several key players graduated from last season’s team that finished as the runner-up in D1, Franklin wasn’t necessarily expected to get back to this stage. Neely, admittedly, didn’t either. But with star senior Caden Sullivan back and surrounded by players who have waited years for their turn, the Panthers found their stride from Day 1 as a group that collectively bought into their roles.
“I think there were a lot of doubters of us coming out of last season based on the number of players we lost from last year’s team, probably myself included in a lot of ways,” Neely said. “I didn’t know we’d be this good. I thought we’d be good. I’ve said this, we had a lot of guys watching a lot of good players play last year, but they were really good and they would have played for a lot of teams and they were ready for their moment this year.”
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Franklin fought off a tough, athletic Bridgewater-Raynham (18-5) squad that had entered Thursday winners of 13 of its previous 14 games, including 10 straight. The Panthers created separation with a dominant 13-2 second quarter, led by as many as 15 before the Trojans cut it to six midway through the Panthers. But Franklin didn’t flinch in the closing minutes to finish the job.
Here are five standouts and takeaways from Thursday’s Division 1 quarterfinal.
Jake Olmstead, Franklin
Class of 2025, 6-2 guard
Olmstead was assertive all night with the ball in his hands as he made several strong finishes with both hands en route to 17 points. The senior made one of the biggest plays in the game in the fourth quarter; after B-R had created momentum and cut Franklin’s lead to six, Olmstead came up with a steal on an inbounds pass before taking it the other way in transition and calmly hitting a jumper off a jump stop. More than Olmstead’s scoring, Neely has been pleased with his development as a playmaker.
“I think in early parts of the season, he wouldn’t make those extra passes to Justice (Samuels) or on the baseline, he wouldn’t kick to the 3,” Neely said. “And now I think he’s found a way to get in the lane, finish when it’s there, but also see his teammates and that’s been the evolution of his game throughout the year that’s really helped us beat good teams like this.”
Justice Samuels, Franklin
Class of 2026, 6-4 forward
Whenever Franklin needed a big play on either end, Samuels stepped to the plate. He took a charge, he used his length and size to bother B-R defensively and he had seven big rebounds. But most importantly, he was aggressive offensively. He finished with 13 points, all on strong drives to the bucket as he found openings in B-R’s defense and attacked. After the Trojans cut their deficit to six with 5:07 to go in the fourth, Franklin broke the press and Samuels scored to help keep the Panthers at arm’s length down the stretch.
“He’s been incredible. All year defensively, I think he’s been there,” Neely said. “Offensively, he’s starting to really kick into gear and taking it to the hoop a little bit more, being more assertive offensively, which we’ve been asking for a while. I gave him a hug and said it’s nice to have the old Justice back. … It’s nice to have that third scorer. It’s big.”
Caden Sullivan, Franklin
Class of 2025, 6-0 guard
In his final home game, Sullivan delivered another vintage performance with 24 points, which included five free throws in the final minute to seal the victory. He was everywhere, and like for most opponents throughout his career, tough to contain and stay in front of with his quick first step and shiftiness. He only made one 3-pointer, but used his outside shooting threat to his advantage with several pump fakes that B-R defenders bit on, which gave him room to drive and facilitate. When B-R went zone, it didn’t faze him, like when he split two defenders with ease and found Samuels for a backdoor two. A big part of Franklin’s game plan was winning the rebounding battle against B-R’s big and athletic guards – the Trojans have feasted all year on second chances – and Sullivan, even at just six feet, answered the call with 10 rebounds, including several tough ones down the stretch to help seal the win.
Cason Faulk, Bridgewater-Raynham
Class of 2026, 6-3 guard
Faulk set the tone early for B-R by scoring nine of the Trojans’ first 11 points, including a turnaround jumper out of the high post, a three-point play and putback from his own miss, as they took an early lead. B-R was playing catch-up after it didn’t make any field goals as a team in the second quarter, but Faulk hit two second-half 3s, and drew an early fourth-quarter charge that helped ignite the Trojans last-gasp comeback. Faulk had 16 points to finish his terrific junior season, and should be one of the best players returning in the state next season.
Deshawn Faulk, Bridgewater-Raynham
Class of 2025, 6-4 guard
The older Faulk brother went scoreless in the first half as Franklin did a good job controlling the tempo and not allowing B-R to do what it does best and get easy buckets in transition, but that changed in the second half as the Trojans chased a comeback. Faulk scored 16 points in the second half as he pushed the pace and put pressure on Franklin’s defense, consistently getting downhill on drives that the Panthers had trouble stopping. Faulk, one of the biggest and most athletic guards in MIAA, hit eight free throws in the second half, and while it ultimately wasn’t enough, he gave the Trojans a chance.
