Franklin Regional boys get benefit of late goaltending call, earn hard-fought victory over Gateway

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, December 19, 2025 | 10:44 PM

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With the score tied in the closing seconds, Webber Rankin emerged from a crowd of players and found himself wide open in the lane.

He caught Alec Masten’s pass in stride and went up for a layup. The shot was blocked fiercely out of bounds by Gateway’s Mykel Bruce-McCrommon. But wait … goaltending.

The obvious call with 4.7 seconds left was the difference as Franklin Regional escaped with a 56-54 victory over the rival Gators in an intense Section 1-5A boys basketball game Friday night in Murrysville.

“I didn’t see him coming,” the 5-foot-11 Rankin said of the 6-7 Bruce-McCrommon. “I just knew I had to catch it and get the ball up quick.”

Gateway had one last chance, but Chris Settles’ long 3 missed and the Panthers exhaled, their winning streak extended to four and their record bumped to 6-1, 3-0.

The guard-oriented Panthers weren’t fast-breaking like they normally do, but they created offense in halfcourt sets and combated a taller lineup to take over first place in the section.

Gateway moved to 2-2, 2-1.

“Webber has an edge to him. He’s not going to quit,” Panthers coach Jesse Reed said of Rankin, who finished with a team-high 21 points. “The work he and our guys put in, I know they’re going to play that way. They have that physical mentality and assertiveness.”

Franklin Regional took a 43-41 edge into the fourth, but the Gators kept creeping closer, answering Panthers scores.

They went up briefly on Settles’ fifth 3-pointer of the night — he finished with a game-high 22 points — but the Panthers scored six straight to go up 49-45.

Logan Walter, who scored 18 for the Panthers, swished a step-back 3 from the top of the key to make it 52-46 with 2:36 to play.

Bruce-McCrommon, who had 17 points, connected on back-to-back jumpers to close the gap to 52-50, but he was called for a technical foul (taunting) and Walter made both shots for a 54-50 Panthers’ lead.

“The game wasn’t won (or lost) on that goaltend,” Gateway coach Vern Benson said. “They made two shots and got the ball out of bounds (on the technical). That’s where they won it.”

Bruce-McCrommon scored again on a break, seconds before his fourth foul, to get the Gators within 54-52 with 1:08 left.

Despite a turnover at midcourt and two free throws by Gateway’s Jax Vovaris, the Panthers had a 54-54 tie to deal with and 10.8 seconds with which to work.

The quick inbound came to Walter, who nearly had it stolen, but his tipped pass went to Masten. He then found Rankin for the winner.

“(Franklin Regional) beat us tonight, but it wasn’t five-on-five, it was eight-on-five,” Benson said. “It’s frustrating when (the officials) let certain things go on all night when you’re expecting it to be a basketball game. I hope the refs go back and watch the film and learn from it.”

Benson was displeased with an earlier goaltending call, also on Bruce-McCrommon. Walter’s shot was poked away, but Bruce-McCrommon appeared to get his hand into the net. A foul also was called, and Walter completed the three-point play to give the Panthers a 29-22 lead.

“We have to be better defensively, but it’s tough when those calls happen,” Benson said. “We’ll bounce back.”

Franklin Regional took a 29-24 edge into halftime.

In the third, the lead changed sides four times in the final 1:15, with Anthony Mitchell connecting on a corner 3 to close the quarter.

After Gateway went up 20-19 on a driving layup by Bruce-McCrommon, the Panthers scored six straight points, with Walter hitting a corner 3.

“I love our guys’ competition and resiliency,” Reed said. “They might be 5-9 but they’re going to fight. Look at Anthony (Mitchell). He guarded Mykel all night. We gang rebounded. We dove for loose balls. … We made the small, winning plays.”

The Panthers’ win followed a 60-53 victory over McKeesport.

“Two gutsy wins,” Reed said.

Rankin scored seven in the first quarter as the Panthers took a 15-7 advantage.

He said while the Gators slowed his team’s pace, the Panthers were ready to play in the halfcourt.

“We watched film,” he said. “They like to play no-switch man. We knew the backdoor cuts would be there. This is a big statement win.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Gateway