“I challenged them at halftime that we came out intimidated and kind of let them dictate where we were going or not going,” said Rossville head coach Dave Mosson. “The name of the ball game is being physical and we did not meet the challenge in the first half.”

Frankfort’s defense did the job Saturday, limiting Rossville’s two gunners – Brandon Tonsoni and Austin Miller – to a combined four points in the first half, all from Tonsoni.

“We knew we had to contain Tonsoni and Miller and I thought our guys did a very good job on them (Saturday),” said Frankfort head coach Tom Weeks.

“Brody (Kirby) guarded Tonsoni and was charged with the task of not letting him get too far away for a set shot or 3,” said Frankfort senior Dakota Isgrigg.

The undersized Hornets (7-5) were exposed in the post, whether it was Isgrigg or Jacob Barnes doing the damage offensively or Christian Smith, Nathan Wissman and Chris Seibert cleaning up on the boards. Isgrigg led all scorers with 19 points on 9 of 11 shooting and added three rebounds. Barnes finished with nine points and six rebounds.

Frankfort dominated the glass, outrebounding Rossville 48-22. Smith finished with a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds, Wissman had eight rebounds and Seibert seven.

“We were able to get it down inside and execute,” Weeks said. “We knew it was tough matchup for them down low and our kids did a good job getting it into them.”

Frankfort (9-3) raced out to an 18-6 lead after the end of the first quarter and never let up. A 3-point play by Isgrigg with 1:22 left gave the Hot Dogs their biggest lead of the half at 30-10 heading into halftime.

A 12-3 run covering a four-minute stretch of the third quarter – with four points apiece from Barnes and Isaac Rudd – took the Hot Dogs’ lead to 25 points at 52-27. The Hot Dogs’ largest overall lead of the game – 27 points – came midway through the fourth quarter at 62-35.

Frankfort’s balanced scoring effort paved the way once again. Besides Isgrigg and Smith, Isaac Rudd was in double figures with 10 points. Barnes was one point away from two digits and Kirby nearly pulled off an unconventional double-double finishing with eight points and nine assists.

“They take away one thing, we’ve got another thing,” Weeks said. “It’s what you always hope to have. We’ll continue to try to work that way.”

Tonsoni and Miller eventually finished in double figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively, but Tonsoni was 0 of 5 from 3-point land – only the second time this season Tonsoni’s put up a 0 from downtown.

For Rossville, Michael Gregorash scored seven points and Ethan Brenneman six points. James Baker was held scoreless.

Isgrigg twisted his ankle in the third quarter, landing on it awkwardly following a dunk attempt. Isgrigg left the game, returned briefly, and then exited again. Weeks said Isgrigg would “be fine.”

Frankfort has now won four consecutive games after losing back-to-back contests against Western and Lebanon.

“It’s definitely been about buckling down and listening to coach when he tells we have to do it his way because he knows what he’s doing, which we found out to be true,” Isgrigg said. “Defense is a big part of it. We were settling for a lot of threes and we’re buckling down on that and getting it inside.”

Frankfort 66, Rossville 44

At Rossville

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Frankfort 18 12 23 13 - 66

Rossville 6 4 20 14 - 44

Frankfort (9-3) 66

Kirby 3-9 1-2 8, Rudd 3-5 3-5 10, Wissman 2-7 0-2 4, C. Smith 5-8 2-2 12, D. Isgrigg 9-11 1-1 19, Barnes 4-8 1-2 9, Webster 0-0 0-0 0, Timmons 0-1 2-2 2, Seibert 1-4 0-0 2, C. Isgrigg 0-0 0-0 0, J. Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Stuard 0-0 0-0 0, Medina 0-0 0-0 0, Giebel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-53 10-16 66.

Rossville (7-5) 44

Gregorash 3-6 1-1 7, Baker 0-3 0-0 0, Miller 3-10 4-6 12, Tonsoni 5-17 6-8 16, Brenneman 3-8 0-1 6, Myers 1-2 0-0 3, Meyers 0-2 0-0 0, Beery 0-0 0-0 0, Howard 0-2 0-0 0, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0.

3-point field goals: FF 2-5 (Rudd 1-1, Kirby 1-2, Wissman 0-2), RV 3-14 (Miller 2-6, Myers 1-2, Meyers 0-1, Tonsoni 0-5). Rebounds: FF 48 (Smith 14), RV 22 (Tonsoni 6). Assists: FF 18 (Kirby 9), RV 1 (Gregorash 2). Steals: FF 7 (Smith 3), RV 4 (Baker 2). Blocks: FF 1 (D. Isgrigg 1), RV 0. Turnovers: FF 10, RV 9. Total fouls: FF 21, RV 15. Fouled out: None.

PHIL FRIEND/pfriend@ftimes.com

Isgrigg

Frankfort senior Dakota Isgrigg powers his way to the basket in Saturday’s game against Rossville. Isgrigg led all scorers with 19 points in the Hot Dogs 66-44 win.

PHIL FRIEND/pfriend@ftimes.com

Staredown

Frankfort’s Trevor Webster keeps his eyes on the ball as he defends Rossville’s Brad Myers.