WINCHESTER – Winchester needed one more push. The Franklin boys basketball team had nearly clawed back to tie the game twice in the second half, and the Red & Black needed someone to lock down the home win in the fifth annual Bob Bigelow Classic.

Senior Harrison Burbine was happy to fill the role.

Burbine scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, winning the tournament’s most valuable player award as he led Winchester to a 46-36 win over the Panthers on Tuesday.

“We’re a really gritty team,” Burbine said. “We’re calm, cool and collected. We’re never going to turn on one another, and I think that’s a big thing we have on this team.”

Franklin (2-3) trailed by nine at halftime but cut the deficit to as few as three points twice in the second half. Free throws by all-tournament player Danny Santos (seven points) and James Crowley (nine points) made it 32-29 early in the fourth quarter, but Burbine answered with nine unanswered points to put the game away. He hit a jumper on the first possession after Crowley’s free throws, then knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:11 left.

Franklin’s Danny Santos and Gil Carlucci gang up on Winchester’s Dawson English during the Bob Bigelow Classic boys basketball game. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

His layup following a defensive hold and slash to the hoop after a Devon Ryan steal pushed the lead to 41-29, and Winchester (6-0) held at least a nine-point lead for the rest of the game.

“Once we got into transition, we were making better decisions,” Winchester coach John Fleming said. “That one run of all transition layups, I thought, was the difference in the end. … We found our way to enough stops, and luckily we made enough, because that was not an offensive masterpiece by either team. Defensively, we made enough stops to get the win.”

Franklin’s only leads came in the first quarter, as Santos knocked down a 3-pointer to go up, 3-2, and Jack Sullivan (nine points) drained another to go up 6-4. Burbine put Winchester ahead for good with a layup late in the first, capping a possession in which two teammates leaped out of bounds to keep the ball in play. A layup by Dawson English (15 points) made it 22-13 Winchester heading into halftime.

Winchester’s Gibby Ketterer takes the ball down court as Franklin’s Ben Scaccia gives chase during the Bob Bigelow Classic basketball game. (Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

“Winchester is really good, and if you can hold them to 46, you’re going to like where you’re at,” Franklin coach Mike Masto said. “We just struggled to hit shots in the first half. … When the shots are going, it’s flowing and it feels good. And then you miss a couple in a row, especially on open looks, it gets tough. We missed some shots, and they exploited it. They ran really well. They were able to get into transition, which hurt us.”