Franklin's Walsh Shines in Senior Night Win Over Catonsville

With the overall game Joe Walsh turned in Wednesday evening against Catonsville, it was fitting that the ball would be in his hands with just under 11 seconds to play and the score tied at 64.

The Franklin senior, who netted a game-high 29 points to go along with 16 rebounds, set a pick for point guard Greg Ramsey just underneath the three-point arc. As Ramsey darted toward the hoop, both Comets defenders trailed along with him and when his fellow senior flipped him back the ball, Walsh had plenty of room to bury a 16-foot jumper with one second to play.

“Joe had been hot all game so we knew to go right to him,” said Ramsey, who added 16 points and four assists—including the game winning pass. “I told coach to run power, that’s our play that goes right to Joe. If they were going to trap Joe I was going to attack, but Joe was wide open. They collapsed, the play worked and he hit the shot.”

 When asked about the final play, a modest Walsh instantly directed praise to his point guard before crediting himself with the shot just within his range.

“Greg stepped up huge too. It’s been working for us, pick and roll, and Greg made the pass and I got a good shot off,” Walsh said. “I think I have a decent mid-range game and time was running out so there was no choice. Luckily, I hit it.”  

After a Catonsville timeout, senior Graham Antoszewski’s half-court heave was deflected as time expired.

Comets head coach Brian Barber had warned his players beforehand to be wary of a pick and roll and go underneath the screen rather than chase the ball handler over top of it.

Said Barber, “We didn’t execute. They executed it very well and we executed it extremely poor in that situation. Hats off to them because when he got the open look he knocked it down.”

Trailing 59-51 with around five minutes to play, Franklin (6-15) outscored the Comets 15-5—with 11 points coming from Walsh—down the stretch to capture the win, 66-64, in a back-and-forth game that saw ten ties and 18 lead changes.

Catonsville (8-11) was led by senior guard Jason Harris who finished with a team-high 18 points. However after tallying 14 (including four three-pointers) in the first half, the Indians locked down on Harris over the final two quarters by sticking taller defenders on the 5’8 guard and relentlessly chasing him off screens.  

With the perimeter game taken away, the Comets relied on the inside presence of senior Jamal Jackson (11 points) and sophomore Jamal Tyson (9) to go on a 10-2 run between the third and fourth quarters to take a 54-46 lead early in the final frame.

However, the Indians were not to be denied, twice trimming the deficit to three points before a Ramsey and-one layup in transition knotted the score at 63 with 70 seconds to play.

Following Franklin sophomore Reggie Ellis earning his squad the lead by hitting the second free throw off a two-shot foul, the Comets’ Tyson answered right back, hitting one of two at the line to retie the score at 64 with 17 seconds remaining.

After the Indians advanced the ball to midcourt, head coach Kieran O’Connell called a timeout to draw up the game winning play.

The coach heaped an immense amount of praise on his clutch senior following the game.

“Joe Walsh has been some warrior. He’s done it across the board for us, points on the board, rebounding, and then he did a great job handling the ball tonight,” O’Connell said.

“What’s great about Joe Walsh is that every kid knew we were calling the play before I came into the huddle. They knew it was going at [Walsh] and they had the look in their eyes that they were ready to finish it and we did.”  

Said Ramsey, “This was a big game. We needed this win. Now we got to go get Hereford on Friday night [away at 7 p.m.]”

The Comets will look to regroup when they return home to take on a tough Milford Mill squad, also Friday night at 7.