By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

FRANKLIN FURNACE — As the late, great Jim Croce once sang, “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger and you don’t miss free throws in a tight game.”

Okay, maybe he didn’t sing about the free throws but they would certainly fit into the story on Friday as the Green Bobcats edged the St. Joseph Flyers 66-61 in a Southern Ohio Conference 1 game.

Green converted 9 of 10 free throws but the Flyers only made 7 of their 16 attempts which proved costly to their chances of winning.

Another factor in Green’s favor was Jon Knapp who scored a game-high 32 points as well as Landon Kimber who added 19 to the winning cause.

St. Joseph (7-5, 2-1) was led by Wesley Neal who had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. Landon “Rocky” Rowe added 11 lints and a pair of assists while Carson Willis had 6 rebounds and Eli Whaley came away with 6 steals.

St. Joseph took a 16-11 first quarter lead as Aiden Deborde, Carter Johnson and Rowe all scored 4 points.

Kimbler hit a 3-pointer and scored 5 points for Green (7-7, 3-1).

But the second quarter was a different story as Green outscored St. Joseph 24-8 and led 35-24 at the half.

Knapp made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points while Kimber had 7 points as he and Gabe Blevins each hit 3-pointers.

Neal made a trifecta for the Flyers as four different players scored.

The Flyers attempted to cut into the lead but only managed to slice a single point off the deficit as they trailed 50-45.

Neal had 9 points and Rowe 5 points as each player made a 3-pointer.

Green kept the lead as Knapp made two more 3-pointers and scored 9 points while Kimbler had a trey and scored 5 points.

St. Joseph outscored Green again in the fourth quarter but it proved not to be enough as the Flyers outscored the Bobcats 21-16.

Neal scored 10 points and Whaley scored all 6 of his points as the Flyers tied to make the comeback.

Knapp scored 7 points, Blevins was 4 of 4 at the foul line and Brennan Renison hit a 3-pointer as Green held on for the win.

St. Joseph 16 8 16 21 = 61

Green    11 24 15 16 = 66

ST. JOSEPH (7-5, 2-1): Aiden Deborde 2 0 0-0 4, Eli Whaley 2 0 2-5 6, Landon Rowe 4 1 0-3 11, Beckham Waginger 2 0 2-2 6, Kai Clark 0 0 0-0 0, Wesley Neal 6 3 2-4 23, Zane Dressel 0 0 0-0 0, Carson Willis 3 0 0-0 6, Carter Johnson 2 0 1-4 5. Totals: 25-57 7-16 61. 3-pt goals: 4-16. Rebounds: 22 (Neal 7, Willis 6). Assists: 10 (Neal 5, Rowe 2). Steals: 17 (Whaley 6, Neal 5). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 16. Fouled out; None.

GREEN (7-7, 3-1): Kamren Russell 0 1 0-0 3, Quincy Merrill 0 0 0-0 0, Jon Knapp 6 5 5-6 32, Mason Neal 0 0 0-0 0, Landon Kimbler 5 3 0-0 19, Gabe Blevins 1 1 4-4 9, Brennan Renison 0 1 0-0 3. Totals: 12 11 9-10 66. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None.