By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

FRANKLIN FURNACE — It was a battle for first place in the Southern Ohio Conference race and the Green Bobcats were left standing on top of the hill.

Green shook off a slow start to beat the Portsmouth Notre Dame Titans 56-49 on Friday.

Green is 9-3 overall but 5-0 in the SOC. Notre Dame is 7-3 and now 4-1 in the league.

Dominic Sparks scored all 7 of his points in the first quarter as the Titans took a 14-8 lead.

Abe McBee got 6 points for Green.

But Green got going in the second quarter and rallied to take a 24-20 halftime lead as Levi Blevins and Jon Knapp each hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 8 points apiece.

The Bobcats continued to pull away as they outscored the Titans 19-11 in the third quarter to lead 43-31.

Knapp and Gabe McBee each hit long-range bombs from behind the arc and Levi Sampson scored 6 points.

Carter Campbell had 6 points for Notre Dame.

In the fourth quarter, Notre Dame outscored Green 18-13 but it was not enough to overtake the Bobcats.

Campbell knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored 11 points with Cody Metzler hitting a 3-pointer and scoring 5 points for the Titans.

The Bobcats were just 4-of-10 from the line in the quarter but Sampson was 3-of-5 at the line and had 5 points while Gabe McBee hit a 3-pointer and also scored 5 points.

Knapp led the Bobcats with 16 points. Sampson scored 13 and Gabe McBee got 11.

Campbell had a game-high 20 points for the Titans with Metzler adding 12.

Notre Dame    14 6 11 18 = 49

Green       8 16 19 13 = 56

PORTSMOUTH NOTRE DAME (7-3, 4-1): Landon Barbarits 3 0 2-2 8, Aaryn Bradford 1 0 0-0 2, Cody Metzler 3 1 3-3 12, Carter Campbell 6 2 1-3 20, Myles Phillips 0 0 0-0 0, Dominic Sparks 3 0 1-2 7. Totals: 16 3 7-10 49. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None.

GREEN (9-3, 5-0): Levi Blevins 1 2 0-0 8, Levi Sampson 4 0 5-10 13, Jon Knapp 2 4 0-0 6, Abe McBee 3 0 2-5 8, Levi Waddell 0 0 0-0 0, Gabe McBee 1 3 0-2 11. Totals: 11 9 7-17 56. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.