All-Area boys basketball: Franklin sweeps top honors

The best season in Franklin High School boys basketball history has ended with multiple accolades for Luke Kennard and Brian Bales.

Among the awards are top honors on the 2014-15 Journal-News All-Area squad, with Kennard as Player of the Year and Bales as Coach of the Year.

Kennard, a senior guard headed to Duke University, is a two-time Associated Press Ohio Mr. Basketball.

He averaged 38.1 points this season, more than double the average of the area’s No. 2 scorer, Lakota East’s Alex White (17.6).

Bales, a 1995 Franklin graduate, directed the Wildcats to a 26-2 record and a berth in the Division II regional finals.

He is the school’s athletic director and has a 129-53 record in eight years at the Franklin helm. The Wildcats haven’t had a losing record since his first season (6-15) in 2007-08.

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