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FOXBORO - Trailing by nine points with five minutes left in the game, Franklin looked like they were going to have an easy time with a depleted Foxboro squad.

Senior forward Andrew Leehouts had just scored on an inside move to the hoop for a 52-43 Franklin lead and the Panthers appeared to have things under wraps.

Franklin head coach Dean O'Connor, though, wasn't thinking that way.

"If you aren't careful against them," said O'Connor, "they'll bite you."

Foxboro did rally, but it wasn't enough as Franklin (11-5) was able to hold off the Warriors for a 56-52. Despite being sick, senior Ali Mourtada led the Warriors (6-8) back to the brink of victory with six points in the final five minutes. Foxboro, though, missed two shots in the final 20 seconds after trailing, 55-52. Franklin's Mike Doherty was fouled after the second Foxboro miss and made the free throw for the difference.

"They battle," said O'Connor of the Warriors. "They were missing a couple of kids and it went right down to the end."

Foxboro was missing starter Nick Marcotte, who was home with the flu, and junior center Jake Lisowski is recovering from an ankle injury. Lisowski is expected back sometime next week.

While he was able to play, Mourtada spent the pregame, laying down on the floor of the locker room with an ice pack on to cool himself off.

"He really wanted to play," said Foxboro head coach C.J. Neely. "Ali is a warrior."

And a very good basketball player. Mourtada led the Warriors with 20 points, only taking a brief rest on the bench.

"He's a coach's dream," said Neely. "The kids have a ton of respect for him. He sets the example for us."

Junior forward Francisco Alicea had another big night for Warriors with 18 points

"Ali and Alicea are very good players," said O'Connor. "They (Foxboro) did a good job with their zone (defense).

"You want to be able to get going inside, because you don't want to have to take threes against the zone." While it wasn't the plan, Franklin did make six 3-pointers, including five by sophomore guard Matt Dean, who led the Panthers with 19 points. Junior Ryan Spencer was also in double figures with 15.

"That's the risk that you take when you play a zone," said Neely. "We didn't want to play man-to-man against them, and you want them to take threes. You just hope they don't make them."

With only eight players available, the Warriors took the Panthers down to the final buzzer.

"I looked down there and saw that they had 17 kids on the bench," said Neely with a smile. "They (Franklin) are also very strong fundamentally and they are also skilled. Dean (O'Connor) runs one of the best programs in the Hockomock League. Even the JV's are so fundamentally solid."

The Warriors will be off until Wednesday when they host North Attleboro in a 6:30 p.m. start.

"I'm going to give them the weekend off," said Neely. "The sickness has been going through the team and we need to get healthy. They need the time off."