The Warriors’ bid for PIL supremacy hit a roadblock on Wednesday, Jan. 23 when Cleveland lost to Franklin 68-63 in a highly-anticipated rivalry game on the Warriors’ home floor.

The loss dropped the team’s league record to 3-4, and fourth place overall. Despite the loss, the game was toe-to-toe until the last minute.

The Warriors came out ferociously, getting the jump ball and then proceeding to drive to the hole. Problems started at the end of the first period when Franklin started controlling the game and was up by two scores. As the clock counted down, junior Myles Walker closed the gap with a last second field goal and the first period ended 13-12, Quakers.

The second period was relatively uneventful. Both teams faced a number of turnovers as well as numerous missed shots. The score was back and forth, neither team fully pulling ahead. Going into halftime, the Quakers led 31-28.

The third quarter demonstrated the reality of this deep-seated PIL rivalry. Both teams came out with a chip on their shoulder, night and day compared to the second quarter. Franklin quickly pulled away leading 42-31 by the first half of the quarter. Where it came from is not for us to know. but something happened to the Warriors and they went on a 15-1 scoring streak, putting on the most entertaining quarter of the game. The turnaround came about from more aggression on the press, and the Warriors forced turnovers and were driving to the rim. Cleveland was rewarded with a 46-43 lead to start the fourth quarter.

If daylight had shown through in the third quarter then the fourth quarter welcomed dusk. The Warriors’ managed to hold onto the lead until only four minutes and 30 seconds remained. An aggressive Franklin defense allowed for the Quakers to tie the score at 51.

The nerves set in and the score seemed to be set until the final minutes of the game. With 1:15 left the Quakers ran up the score to 62-57. With excellent displays of athleticism and hustle the Warriors brought the score to 62-59.  Just when it looked like the game was in reach the Quakers got a last minute fast break to score a field goal, and hit free throws down the stretch to win 68-63.

After the game,gave his take.

“It was a good game,” said  junior Khai Dumdeang. “Moving forward we just need to work on our chemistry and competing as a team.”