The Franklin Panthers were able to secure second place in regular season conference play this past Tuesday night in a win over Smoky Mountain in overtime, 67-62.  The Panthers started out a little slow on Tuesday night at Smoky Mountain, but strong play and demonstrative hustle on defense in the second half proved to be a little more than the Mustangs could handle on their Senior Night.  Senior Jay Bueck stepped it up in the second half after sitting most of the first due to foul trouble, and led the team in scoring, (24) and assists for the night.  But offense isn't what has been most impressive the past couple of games.  Bueck was all over the floor against the Mustangs, even diving between the legs of opponents to force turnovers by Smoky, which helped spark the offense to turn it up a notch.  Junior John Tastinger got in on the defensive action and helped with some steals at some key times and fed Senior Tyler Harrell who contributed 19 points (15 from behind the 3pt line) to help seal the win in overtime.  This impressive comeback win follows an even more impressive win against conference rival, the Pisgah Bears at Canton the previous Friday.  Franklin traveled to Pisgah with only one option on their agenda, win.  That's exactly what they did with a remarkable defensive showing by Harrell and fellow senior, Tye Chastain, shutting down their two best players to help lift Franklin up for the win 63-52.  Harrell, with the help of Tastinger and Cole Doolittle was able to hold Pisgah's Tanner Wike to only 5 points this game, a drastic drop of the 26 points he posted in the first game between the two rivals.  Chastain was able to hold their big man, Kameron Walker to only 14, with a huge support system coming from freshman, Miles McClure.  McClure showed up at Pisgah playing like anything but a freshman, posting a double-double for the first time this season with a remarkable 10 rebounds and 16 points.  Tastinger has had an amazing showing the past 4 games, averaging 18ppg through converted layups from steals and being on fire behind the 3pt line.  This kind of combined effort on defense and overall team effort on offense is what secured Franklin with a first round bye going into the conference tournament this Friday night in the Panther Den.  The varsity boys will have their first tournament appearance on Tuesday, February 19 at Brevard.