A scoreboard in the Springboro gym Tuesday night kept track of how many points belonged to Franklin and how many belonged to the Panthers.
But this group didn't care about that so much. While they love their hometowns, and each one of them is competitive to the core, they would never let any of that get in the way of the love they have for one another.
Allow me to diagram this photo for a second. That's my daughter Chloe, a Springboro graduate, on the left, and that's her boyfriend Cole Blevins, a Franklin graduate and former Wildcat basketball player, next to her.
Jordan Scheper, the Springboro cheerleader in the middle, is our next door neighbor. Her sister Brooke, a former Panther cheerleader and one of Chloe's best friends, is on the right. Beside her is Shelby Blevins, a Franklin H.S. senior volleyball player, and also Cole's sister. Cole and Shelby are cousins to Jordan and Brooke.
Got all of that? Now even I am confused.
This group does everything together -- volleyball, camping, cornhole tournaments, boating, eating Chipotle, laughing, watching UK basketball, binge-watching something on Netflix, and listening to (very loud) music.
My wife Kim and I hear our basement door opening and closing all the time. And we love it.
So there was a basketball game tonight, and two great communities were there to support their respective teams. By the way, the scoreboard said Franklin came out ahead in a game that went down to the wire.
But in this group, no one was a loser.
Love wins.