ANDERSON — The Frankton boys basketball team earned a third-place finish in last year’s Madison County tournament after a narrow 50-46 loss to Pendleton Heights in the semifinals.

Now the Eagles have their sights even higher.

They jumped on Elwood early and hung on for a 66-62 victory in Wednesday night’s second semifinal at Robert E. Fuller Memorial Gym and advanced to the championship game against Highland.

“I’m ecstatic to get out of here with a win and be in the championship,” said Frankton coach Brent Brobston. “I know it wasn’t pretty, but it’s a win, and it got us in the championship game.”

The Eagles (5-5) opened the game on a 27-6 run and led by 18 points at the half. But the circumstances changed quickly in the third quarter.

Elwood went to a full-court press and forced Frankton into numerous turnovers. The Panthers scored on nearly every possession and outscored the Eagles 27-16 in the period.

Jacob Dunnichay and Thomas Abner were key in getting Elwood back into the game. The duo finished with a combined 38 points (20 and 18, respectively), and were the clear leaders on the press.

The Panthers (1-9) had their opportunities late in the game but could never quite get over the hump. They cut the lead to five twice in the final five minutes and knocked in a 3-pointer with two seconds left to make the score appear closer than it was.

“We come out with no intensity, no purpose, thinking a team is just going to show up and play with us, and we just get behind too early,” said Elwood coach Kyle Hobbs. “Then all of a sudden we decide we want to play, but basketball is a game of two halves.

“My whole concern with this game plan starting out was if we didn’t come out with energy that we were gonna dig ourselves a hole, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Frankton’s 6-foot-8 forward Jon Gardner was a dominating presence on both ends of the court. Gardner had recorded a double-double by halftime and finished with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 11 rebounds. He thrived on the Panthers’ lack of size and crashed the offensive boards every chance he got. His only weakness was his shooting at the free-throw line where he finished 4-of-11.

“In the second half, we couldn’t get him (Gardner) the ball because the guards were pressuring us so much we couldn’t even see him,” Brobston said. “They’re just athletic as heck, and if there’s one thing they can do, they can play some defense when they want to.”

Frankton shot a sizzling 61 percent from the field (25-of-41), but it was the turnovers that really hurt in the second half. The Eagles had 23 miscues in the contest.

Friday night’s championship will mark the first time the Eagles have competed in the final game. Highland upset seventh-ranked Anderson 51-46 in the earlier game Wednesday evening to reach the title game.

Adam Hendricks added nine points for Frankton, and Carson Breckenridge knocked in all four of his shots and scored eight points off the bench.