With every defensive possession, the Concord Christian boys’ basketball team found ways to disrupt Franklin’s movement. After struggling against a zone in the first quarter, the Kingsmen found their groove to generate tons of fast-break points in the paint and push the tempo.

Coach Greg Farland’s team has been doing it all season long, and its defensive composure against a tough Franklin team showed why they’re still undefeated after a 64-50 win over the Golden Tornadoes on Tuesday night.

Concord Christian senior TJ Charbono led his team to victory with 20 points, including four 3-pointerss, in his hometown of Franklin. The Kingsmen’s other star guard, sophomore Luke Farland, followed him closely with 17.

“TJ is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, and he hit. This is hometown, and I’m glad he was able to have a good game in front of his family and friends,” Greg Farland said.

The Kingsmen’s spacing and tactical adjustments were quick and well-trained. They had a strong rotation from the bench that helped them maintain the lead down the stretch. They were solid all around and a well-oiled machine ready to strike.

“They’ve got a pretty high goal this year and they’ve stated that since day one, and us coaches have reinforced to them that if that’s what they want to do, they got to put in, you got to put in the time, and the energy and the effort in practice, and so our practices are aggressive. They’re tough,” Coach Farland said. “They’re tenacious, they come to bring it, and so it’s the intensity that we bring in practice that helps us to prepare to play these good teams.”

This massive D-IV showdown on Tuesday night could have big implications for both as the playoffs are on the horizon.

Concord Christian (14-0) drew one win closer to matching undefeated, Division IV-leading Woodsville (15-0). The Engineers won three straight D-IV championships from 2021-23, including the 2022 title game over CCA.

On the other hand, the Golden Tornadoes are now 9-7 and have two away games remaining against Moultonborough and Epping.

Some of the lessons from this game will be vital for Franklin’s upcoming run in the playoffs. Turnovers are the obvious one because CCA did force many, but some were unforced errors that kept the Golden Tornadoes from gaining momentum. Head coach David Bedard will have his work cut out for him in the final stretch.

“We gotta work together to really move that ball, and sometimes we just get ourselves stuck in those trap situations and panic a little bit,” he said. “It’s really just going to be a matter of coming with more experience and understanding when those pressure situations come.”

The next is finishing strong under the rim because at times Franklin had chances to build upon its early lead or bite into CCA’s lead later in the game, but the Tornadoes seemed to lose focus in the paint, which cost them down the stretch.

Not all was strife, though. Franklin seniors Harrison Kaplan, Matthew Nason, Cole Johnson and Alen Veletanlic showed tons of leadership and heart in the fourth quarter. Kaplan led his team with 16 points, and 12 of those came in the fourth quarter when the game was closing.

Finding ways to show that passion throughout all four quarters will be the key to winning in the single-elimination playoffs.

“I still have a lot of faith in this group, despite the record; it seems like there’s always one stretch of every game that we just forget how to play basketball for six to eight minutes and that kills us,” Bedard said. “Today was the second quarter. We were up two at the end of the first, down 14 at halftime, and ended the game down 14.

“If we can find a way to limit those rough stretches and minimize that damage, I’d rather die a death from 1,000 cuts than one big gash.”

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.