Class 4A boys tournament: Franklin survives Pasco's upset bid

TACOMA — The situation screamed upset.

Opposing coaches have said it almost to a man this season, that to beat Franklin, a team must slow the tempo, execute a half-court offense and hope the high-powered Quakers miss a few shots.

All of it happened for the better part of 32 minutes last night, as the Pasco Bulldogs appeared ready to stun the field at the Class 4A boys basketball state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

Instead, talent, good fortune and an All-American named Aaron Brooks intervened.

Brooks scored 22 points, including seven of Franklin's final nine, and made all four of his free-throw attempts in the last 27 seconds as the top-ranked Quakers rallied for a 55-52 victory and a berth in today's semifinals.

Franklin (23-2) will play Kentwood (25-2), a 56-46 winner over Central Valley, tonight at 7 o'clock.

Both teams are No. 1 seeds, continuing a pattern established Wednesday of favored teams winning.

Mead (27-0), another No. 1 seed, also earned a spot in the semifinals yesterday with a 68-60 victory over two-time defending state champion Lincoln.

The Spokane team snapped the Abes' 11-game state-tournament winning streak and ensured a new champion will be crowned in Tacoma this year.

No. 8 Prairie (22-6) upset fifth-ranked Snohomish (21-3) 58-57 in the late quarterfinal game and will play Mead tonight at 8:30.

Following a lengthy postgame meeting, the Quakers filed slowly from their locker room yesterday. Few looked pleased with their performance, which was good enough to win but hardly characteristic of the way they've played this season.

"I wouldn't call it sluggish," said senior Ricky Washington, who scored 18 points and was 4 for 6 from three-point range. "We're playing, but things just aren't falling for us right now."

Franklin led by as many as 10 points, 20-10, in the first half, but trailed 48-43 with a little over two minutes to play.

Afterward, Coach Jason Kerr was asked if he thought that nearly losing might serve as a learning tool for his team to use in one of its two remaining games.

"If it was earlier in the season, I would say yes," Kerr said. "(At this time of the year), I think we're beyond the point of learning lessons."

The Quakers ended the game with a 12-4 run, taking the lead for good, 51-50, on a layup by Kellen Williams with 49 seconds remaining. Brooks then hit four straight free throws in the final 27 seconds, drawing chants of "All-American!" from the Franklin student section.

Pasco had one shot to tie the game, but Roby Clyde's three-pointer rattled in and out as time expired.

Making the late-game comeback more interesting was a controversial scoring change.

The scoreboard tally was adjusted by one point in Franklin's favor midway through the fourth quarter when a tip-in by Williams off a missed three-pointer by Brooks was mistakenly ruled a three-point basket.

Pasco Coach Chad Herron said the decision affected how his team used its final possession. Had the Bulldogs been down 54-52, they would not have taken a three-point shot, Herron said, but instead run a pick-and-roll with point guard Kris Groce and forward William Hargrow.

Kerr said he didn't see the play and that the officials never talked to him about the score.

Overshadowed in defeat was the play of Groce, this season's Big Nine Conference's Most Valuable Player. The 5-foot-10 senior scored a game-high 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting. He scored 17 of his team's 21 points in the fourth quarter and didn't seem intimidated by Brooks, his counterpart.

"I thought he took it right to Franklin, right to Brooks," Herron said. "He played a tremendous game."

Groce said he has not decided where he will play in college. Hargrow added 10 points.

Matt Peterson: 206-515-5536 or mpeterson@seattletimes.com

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