Franklin Bulldogs basketball in midst of epic season turnaround

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) – At Franklin High School, the goal is simple – win Sectionals.

“Confidence. If we have confidence, I feel like we can win this,” said junior captain Shawn Goins.

Heading into the season, not many people thought Franklin would compete for a title. The Bulldogs finished 4-16 and last place in Class AA last year. Now in his third season as the head coach, Joseph Jackson says a new culture is starting to take shape.

“We started building around a nucleus of guys, the Thompson twins, Sha’mere Freeman, Shawn Goins. Just watching these guys mature into young men and just become who they are today is phenomenal,” said Jackson.

“We weren’t close a lot last year. Now we do mostly everything together. Chemistry really helps us win, so that’s really a big part in our winning this year,” said Freeman.

Franklin has risen up the Class AA standings. They won 11 more games than they did last year, finishing the regular season at 15-5, and earning the two seed in Sectionals. And the Bulldogs… are in it for more.

“We’re hungry. We want to win sectionals and go past that,” said Jackson.

“People doubting us, so if we can win this, prove all them wrong,” said Goins.

It’s been over two decades since Franklin’s last banner. It’s also the 30-year anniversary of when they won Sectionals in 1993. So you can imagine how big of a deal winning it this year would mean.

“We’re really trying to change things here as a culture as far as basketball and within the school. Just to have some good positive things for us to be proud of here at Franklin,” said Jackson.

(2) Franklin plays (10) Edison Tech in the quarterfinals on Friday.