ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - The top two teams of the Delta League in boys basketball faced off to see who controls the lead of the league as the postseason gets closer.

The Sheldon Huskies, coming off of a victory against Pleasant Grove High School on Feb. 4, traveled to play the Franklin High School Wildcats on Friday Feb. 6. The Huskies were back into the win column after taking a loss to Monterey Trail on Feb. 2, breaking their 13-game win streak.

The Huskies had a 22-4 overall record where they were 9-1 in league play, while the Franklin Wildcats were coming into the game with a 23-2 overall record while being 8-1 in the Delta League.             

The last time these two teams had played, the Huskies won 62-45. The Wildcats were looking to even the series to gain momentum getting close to the postseason.  

 

Sheldon’s No. 5, Kejshaun Brooks, and Franklin’s No. 14, Luke Fahlen, jump for the opening tip-off.

Once the game started, the Wildcats came out fast, using a fast-paced offense to find the open man to take quality shots. The defense was feeding off the home crowd and student section, which had seemingly taken Sheldon off its game.

The first quarter ended with Franklin leading 15-12.

As Franklin was looking to continue the momentum it had in the first quarter, Sheldon was able to quickly shift the momentum in its favor.

No. 1 Baron Sabir scored three straight 3-pointers to start the second quarter, along with No. 20 Zech Beatty grabbing big offensive rebounds and getting second-chance points.               

The Husky defense made the Wildcats work for everything, only giving up nine points in the second quarter while the Huskies scored 24 points.

Sheldon took a 36-24 lead into halftime.                       

Once halftime had ended, the Wildcats continued to fight into the lead, even being able to cut the lead to seven points in the third quarter.                 

However, Sheldon continued to grab offensive rebounds to take advantage of second chance opportunities for points, as well as not allowing Franklin to get any easy looks on offense to score.    

 

Franklin’s student section gets into the game.

The Huskies had an 18-point lead at the end of the third quarter, and although they had a rough start to the game, they were able to find the right gear and not look back.                

The Huskies carried all of their momentum through the fourth quarter, playing tough defense while taking advantage of second-chance opportunities on offense.                     

Sheldon ended the game by winning 75-58, snapping Franklin’s five-game win streak and dropping them to 23-3 on the season and 8-2 in league play. Sheldon was pushed to 23-4 on the season and 10-1 in league play.