After a sectional final loss, Franklin boys’ basketball is looking to improve on that run from a season ago. Currently, the Sabers are 3-0 on the season after going 22-6 last year.
Even though the team will be chasing a conference title this season, Franklin has a lot of holes to fill after last season. The Sabers lost ten seniors from last year’s squad highlighted by current UW-Whitewater big man Carter Capstran, who averaged 16.8 points per game last season.
“When we looked at the season, we knew that we had a good core because we have been building it for years,” Franklin head coach Tyler Podoll said. “We just didn’t know what it would look like at a varsity level.”
This year’s team is led by four seniors: Isacc Verges, who averaged eight points per game last season, as well as Reece Osgood, Logan Matthews and Kelton Thiele. Verges is currently averaging 19 points per game in the team’s three games this season.
The Sabers also have seven juniors, four sophomores and one freshman on this year’s squad headlined by Will Gardner, Terrence Shelton Jr., and Eli Podoll. Gardner is averaging 12.5, while both Shelton and Podoll are averaging around seven points per game.
“There aren’t really any standouts, we just play together,” senior Isaac Verges said. “We grit it out together and when we wear teams down and break away from teams. That is what we are trying to do this year.”
Franklin’s football program won the WIAA Division 1 State Championship this past fall, and there are five players on the Sabers’ basketball roster that were a part of that championship. Verges sees that as motivation for how the basketball team can build off of last year’s finish.
“It is just really good motivation, we see that it is possible,” Verges said of the motivation after football won. “At some point, it turns into our theme for the year: One more. Our goal this year is one more game, one more rep in the weight room, one more everything, so we can get that last game.”
Coach Podoll doesn’t know what to expect out of the Southeast Conference this year with everyone getting out of the Covid-19 pandemic year. Franklin will be expected to be in the race for the conference crown with the likes of rivals Oak Creek as well as Racine Case this year.
“I think we have the best concept of togetherness of a program from fourth grade all the way up that will continue to carry us year after year,” Podoll said.
About Franklin High School
Franklin High School, located at 8222 South 51st St., Franklin, WI 53132, is home to more than 1,500 students and over 150 teachers and support staff combined. Their combined focuses of academics, arts, and athletics provide a well-rounded educational experience with diverse opportunities for students.
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