The search for a complete game continues for Seymour’s boys basketball team following a 70-64 loss to Franklin on Saturday night.

The Owls started and ended well, but a lull in the middle of the contest undid the good work they produced on the edges.

Seymour played its best quarter of the season to open the game, reeling off a rapid-fire 16-0 run during a three-minute stretch that resulted in a 20-7 lead.

Later, the Owls closed with a 28-point fourth quarter fueled by the inside scoring of sophomore Jaylan Johnson that nearly salvaged the victory.

In between, however, during the second and third quarters, head coach Kirk Manns’ squad managed just 14 points, which allowed Franklin’s 3-point sharpshooters to find their range and flip the contest.

“You have to have a mindset offensively that you’re going to share the ball, move and cut and that you’re going to do it for 32 minutes,” Manns said. “We see that mindset with really good teams, so it can be done. Right now, we’re only good in spurts. We compete hard at the end when we fall behind. We need to learn how to compete the right way when we have the lead early in the game and midway through the game.”

The loss obscured two strong individual performances, particularly Johnson’s. The 6-foot-3 forward ended with 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting. He scored 18 in the second half and impressed his coach by making eight of nine free throw attempts.

“Jaylan was a bright spot,” Manns said. “He’s figuring things out inside. The biggest bright spot is he got to the foul line and knocked his foul shots down.”

Seymour shooting guard Landon Fritsch also shined, finishing with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double effort.

“Landon has been in a really good rhythm in three of our four games,” Manns said. “He continues to be a consistent perimeter scorer for us.”

Unfortunately for Seymour, Franklin enjoyed several good performances of its own. The Grizzly Cubs had three double-figure scorers, led by Wyatt Nickleson’s 19, and two other players who scored nine points.

Franklin’s outside shooting ultimately proved to be the difference. The Cubs knocked down 12 3-pointers, including a remarkable 7-for-10 from long range in the second half.

Seymour, on the other hand, didn’t make a 3-pointer all night.

“They were looking to make a skip pass or the extra pass, and they did that really well,” Manns said. “Defensively, our rotations were slow. We didn’t take the extra step to get out on to their shooters. They made deep shots, and you’ve got to give them credit.”

Defense, Manns said, may be his team’s biggest conundrum at the moment. The Owls are allowing opponents to score 62.3 points per game this season, nearly 20 more than last season, and have surrendered 60 or more points three times in four games.

During the previous three seasons under Manns, the Owls allowed just 46.9 points on average. Last season’s defensive-minded squad conceded 60 or more points just twice in 22 contests.

“I have a lot of concerns, but none bigger than the way we’re guarding right now,” Manns said. “We’re almost not guarding at all.”

The Owls will open up their Hoosier Hills Conference slate on Friday at Jeffersonville.

Box score

At Seymour

Grizzly Cubs 70, Owls 64

Franklin (2-2);10;14;17;29;—;70

Seymour (0-4);22;6;8;28;—;64

Franklin: Wyatt Nickleson 6 2-2 19, Micah Davis 5 4-7 16, Grant Hunter 4 0-0 11, Dylan Beverly 3 1-4 9, John Shepard 4 1-4 9, Nate Corley 2 2-2 6, Ryder Street 0 0-0 0, Kolt Nelson 0 0-0 0, Totals 24 10-19 70.

Seymour: Jaylan Johnson 11 8-9 30, Landon Fritsch 6 4-4 16, Bret Perry 2 1-2 5, Ethan Silcox 2 1-2 5, Charlie Longmeier 2 1-2 5, Eli Meyer 1 1-2 3, Josh Rennekamp 0 0-0 0, Brady Harpe 0 0-0 0, Michael Brooks 0 0-0 0, Totals 24 16-21 64.

3-point goals: F 12 (Nickleson 5, Hunter 3, Davis 2, Beverly 2), S 0.

Rebounds: F 25 (Shepard 10), S 29 (Fritsch 11).

Turnovers: F 9, S 12.

Fouls: F 15, S 19.

Junior Varsity

Franklin 51, Seymour 30

Seymour scoring: Brady Harpe 11, Michael Brooks 6, Myles Chandler 5, Parker Thompson 3, Ross Pumphrey 3, AJ Harrell 2.

Freshman

Seymour 41, Franklin 38, OT

Seymour scoring: Nate Fritsch 12, Nolan Bartels 12, Traysean Hawkins 6, Tyson Hillian 5, Mack Longmeier 4, Evan Unterseher 2.