Coach Tyler Phillips said the Seymour boys basketball team has to find a way to keep from falling behind at the start of games.

“The problem is we continue to put ourselves in position where we have to battle back,” he said following a 66-58 loss to Franklin on Saturday night in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.

“We’ve got to find a way to get off to a better start,” he said. “We’re four games in, and we haven’t had a good start yet. We’ve got to find a way to come out and get started early.”

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Franklin received two 3-pointers from Blaine Wentzell to take a 12-0 lead with 5:20 left in the first quarter.

R.J. Kleber scored Seymour’s first point, a free throw at 5:12.

After the Grizzly Cubs added a basket, the Owls outscored the visitors 12-3 over the final 4:44 of the period to trail 17-13 going into the second quarter.

Jayden Brown made a 3-point basket and Jack Roberts scored three buckets inside to lead Seymour’s comeback.

After Drew Byerly dropped in a layup at the start of the second period to put the Grizzly Cubs on top 19-13, Roberts added a pair of free throws and Eric McCoy hit back-to-back layups to tie the score at 19 before Franklin moved on top 32-27 at the half.

Brown had three baskets and a free throw in the third quarter, as Seymour outscored Franklin 13-11 to trail 43-40 going into the fourth quarter.

McCoy drilled a 3-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter to tie the score, but Franklin rallied back with a 6-0 run to lead the rest of the way.

“Our basketball IQ has to get better,” Phillips said. “We took some really silly shots tonight at key times. We had 20 turnovers. You’re not going to beat a team like Franklin with 20 turnovers. We’ve got to take care of the basketball.

“That’s 20 times that they got an extra shot at the rim and we didn’t get any. In a game where you get beat by eight, these are keys. (Friday) night, we couldn’t rebound. Tonight, we couldn’t take care of the ball. There’s always that one key that’s keeping us from getting over this hump, and we’ve got to get it cleaned up quickly.”

The Owls made 20 of 52 shots from the floor to 22 of 53 for Franklin. Seymour was 15-for-20 at the free throw line, and Franklin made 17 of 30. Wentzell, who topped the Grizzly Cubs with 17 points, was 6-for-6 at the line in the fourth quarter.

McCoy topped the Owls with 16 points, Roberts scored 14 and Brown scored 10 to go along with nine rebounds.

Franklin (2-1) committed 13 turnovers for the game but only two in the second half.

“Give them credit,” Phillips said. “They took care of the ball. We were doing what we were supposed to defensively. We didn’t talk on a couple rotations and gave up some layups, but that’s a credit to them. It’s what they were doing, not what we weren’t doing.”

The 58 points is a season-high for the Owls.

“We were assertive. I told them on offense we need to be the aggressor,” Phillips said. “And even in that first quarter, I thought we were. We just didn’t make shots. They came out offensively and did what I asked them to do.

“Defensively, we weren’t locked into what we were supposed to do. We’ve got to find a way to put it all together. We’re doing three out of five or four out of five, but to win at this level, it’s got to be five out of five, and we’ve got to find a way to do that.”

The Owls (1-3) will travel to Jeffersonville Friday for a Hoosier Hills Conference game.

“We go on the road against a really good basketball team, so we’ve got to figure it out,” Phillips said. “If you’re in a fight and you get hit in the face nine times before you finally land a punch, it’s too late, and that’s kind of where we are. We can’t be a team that continually plays from behind, and that’s where we are right now.”