“We like the bull’s-eye. It gives us a little something to play for,” Montgomery said. “You know the expectation around here. Just win the next one.”
Payton Knott tossed in 18 points and Noah Kremer added 10 for Franklin, which is 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Southwestern Division.
The Wildcats pounced on the Golden Eagles by starting the game with a 19-2 surge. Bellbrook (1-2, 1-2) chopped that deficit to nine twice in the second period, but could get no closer.
“Being on the road, the start was crucial,” Franklin coach Brian Bales said. “I thought our guys really, really amped the defense up and got us off to a good start. Our defense was creating our offense.
“In the middle of the game, I thought we got into what we call TBS … trading basket syndrome. We were scoring, but I didn’t think we were guarding there for a while. But then we started to guard better toward the end.”
The Wildcats buried 43 treys in their first four games. They were only 3 of 12 beyond the arc against the Golden Eagles, but shot 53.3 percent from the field by slashing to the basket most of the night.
“That’s a good team,” Montgomery said. “We were prepared for them to battle back. We knew they weren’t going to lay down. We’re just proud that we were able to pull it out.
“I wouldn’t say we were concerned that we’d lose. We just try to worry about ourselves. Defend, defend, defend and see what happens on the offensive end.”
Montgomery, who received a football scholarship offer from Ball State University this week, converted five traditional three-point plays.
“We’ve got a team full of shooters they can’t really help off, so I’m really just one-on-one, and the ball just fell for me tonight,” he said.
Franklin was also 28 of 35 at the charity stripe. Bellbrook was 13 of 23 at the line.
“We didn’t shoot our free throws very well, and we had good free-throw shooters shooting them,” Golden Eagles coach Donnie Tate said. “We were just fighting an uphill battle after that first quarter. We came out a little too passive. Against that team, you’ve got to play a complete game.”
Donnie Crouch (18), Hayden Greene (14) and Ethan Savey (12) paced the scoring for Bellbrook. Savey and Crouch both contributed four assists, and Jack Campbell notched seven rebounds and three assists. Sean Ulrich added four steals.
Three players fouled out for the Golden Eagles, who will turn right around and travel to Northridge on Saturday.
“We had our chances a couple times,” said Tate, in his first year at the helm after working as an assistant at Carroll the last two seasons. “We had the lead down to nine with the ball in our hands and couldn’t get it to go in. The good part is we have a chance to bounce right back. After a loss, it is nice to play that next day and get back onto the court.”
Montgomery was 8 of 13 from the floor and 11 of 15 from the line. He also made three steals.
“He was special tonight,” Bales said. “Ryan and Payton, that’s a 1-2 punch that’s hard to guard. Those two guys played a really good floor game tonight.
“We talked going into this game about being hungry. I want this team to have an edge about ’em, and I think we had it tonight from the get-go. They were trying to run us off the 3-point line because of our 3-point percentage, so we took that and countered it with guys attacking the basket, and we have good free-throw shooters.”
Kremer grabbed seven rebounds for the Wildcats, and Knott and Braden White marked five apiece. Jared Kinzer chipped in eight points and three boards.
Franklin will host Belmont on Tuesday.
“We’ve got so many guys that just accept their role. There’s no egos on this team,” Bales said. “It’s a fun group to coach. I don’t know how great we can be, but I know these guys will compete every night.”
Franklin 26-14-21-18—79
Bellbrook 11-16-21-13—61
FRANKLIN (5-0, 2-0 SWBL Southwestern): Noah Kremer 3 4 10, Payton Knott 5 7 18, Will Kercher 1 2 5, Cole Bundren 1 0 2, Braden White 2 0 5, Ryan Montgomery 8 11 27, Jared Kinzer 3 2 8, Greg Wyatt 0 2 2, Konnor Black 1 0 2. Totals: 24-28-79
BELLBROOK (1-2, 1-2 SWBL Southwestern): Chandler Wren 1 0 2, Jack Campbell 1 1 3, Ethan Savey 3 4 12, Sam Shroder 1 0 2, Donnie Crouch 5 5 18, Sean Ulrich 1 0 2, Hayden Greene 5 3 14, Caleb Scott 3 0 6, Skyler Golden 1 0 2. Totals: 21-13-61
3-pointers: F 3 (Knott, Kercher, White), B 6 (Crouch 3, Savey 2, Greene)
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