Caden Sullivan delivers Franklin basketball 1st championship with 31 points in title game
LOWELL — Caden Sullivan cradled the Massachusetts-shaped state championship trophy under one arm as he pointed one finger to the sky. Blue medical tape wrapped around wounds both above and below his right elbow. Franklin's senior captain pointed one finger to the sky while green clad members of the Panthers student section pawed at his head and shoulders, trying to grasp greatness.
Sullivan scored Franklin's last 10 points to seal a 55-52 win over Newton North in the Division 1 state championship game, delivering the Panthers their first title Sunday night. He poured in 31 points, one of the 30 highest individual scoring performances in boys state championship history.
"We wanted the ball in his hands down the stretch, simple as that," Franklin coach CJ Neely said.
Sullivan only hit one 3. Fearless all year, he lived in the lane, beating defenders off an unorthodox dribble and finishing through contact, most of it called. Some of it not. The Endicott commit made 8-of-10 free throws and the three most important ones.
"He has a competitive edge. That's probably why we're such good friends. We're both competitors," said Newton North senior Teagan Swint, who played AAU with Sullivan for years. "We both wanted it. He wanted it, I wanted it. You know when he's on your team, when you're playing against him, he's such a competitor."
Sullivan gave the Panthers a 52-48 lead with 2 minutes, 1 second remaining after tapping in a miss midair. Newton North increased its defensive pressure and forced a steal that led to a wide open dunk by Teagan Swint, the Tigers' McDonalds' All-American nominee bound for Johns Hopkins. He finished with 24 points, 11 in the fourth quarter.
The longtime friends traded baskets over the final five minutes, Swint trying to conjure a comeback and Sullivan holding the Tigers at bay. When Franklin called a timeout to inbound the ball with 20.1 seconds remaining and a two-point lead, Neely asked his team what they wanted to do with the ball. The Panthers said, "Give it to Caden."
"He's our leader. We just let him do what he does," Franklin senior Jake Olmstead said.
Newton North fouled Sullivan quickly, trying to extend the game. He missed the first free throw with 20.1 seconds left but sank the second for a three-point advantage. The Tigers scored quickly with a pass to Nicholas Spinelli and fouled Sullivan again with 6.1 seconds remaining.
He took a step back and breathed. The noise faded. Two shots snapped the net. Newton North missed a last-second heave, and Sullivan chest bumped his teammates in jubilation.
"My four years here, I knew it would come down to it at some point," Sullivan said. "I wanted that ball in my hands no matter what."
A year ago he sat on the court with tears in his eyes after Franklin lost to Worcester North in the state final. The Panthers graduated eight seniors, including the league MVP. It didn't look like they'd return given what they lost.
"Coming into the year, I was a doubter of the team," Sullivan said.
Sullivan proved himself and the other doubters wrong. He set Franklin's single-season scoring record and notched his 1,000th career point. None of it meant anything with the trophy in his hands.
"I just care about winning this right here," Sullivan said.
Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.
This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Caden Sullivan caps great Franklin basketball senior year with title
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