Class 4A boys tournament: Franklin finally back in title game

TACOMA — After two days spent huddling with his assistants, scratching his head and wondering what was wrong with his Franklin boys basketball team, Coach Jason Kerr decided to let it go last night.

He turned the Quakers loose.

And they reverted to their old form, sprinting and spinning and scoring, running all over the court.

The outcome followed a familiar pattern, too, as Franklin rebounded from back-to-back sluggish performances to blow out Kentwood 76-60 in the semifinals of the Class 4A state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

Top-ranked Franklin (24-2) will face Mead of Spokane tonight at 9 o'clock for the championship in a highly anticipated clash of the state's top two teams. The second-ranked Panthers (28-0) beat Prairie 62-51 in last night's other semifinal.

"(Coach Kerr) didn't say nothing," said senior Aaron Brooks, who had 13 points, five assists and three steals. "He just said go out there and play. He gave us freedom and we just used creativity to get our shots."

Franklin, which escaped an upset bid by Pasco in the quarterfinals on Thursday, will make its first appearance in the state finals under Kerr. The Quakers' last state championship came in 1995.

"This would be the biggest thing that has ever happened to me, to win this," said Brooks, who has played on the U.S. Junior National team, been named a McDonald's All-American and earned a scholarship to Oregon. "I mean, all the individual accolades, man, they won't top a state championship. That's all we want to do. I don't care if I come out and have zero points and 10 turnovers if we win the game."

Franklin broke the game open with a 20-4 run to end the first half. Brooks scored eight points during the spurt, including a three-pointer to start it with 5:20 remaining and the Quakers trailing 25-23.

By the time the run was over, Franklin players were sprinting off the floor, headed for halftime with a 43-29 lead.

"We were just going to try to slow it down like we did in the first quarter," said Kentwood center Jason Mgebroff, whose team led 17-13 after one quarter. "And they just started grabbing rebounds and outrunning us back to the ball. We weren't hustling back."

Seventh-ranked Kentwood (25-3) will play Prairie for third place today at 3:30 p.m.

Franklin shot 44 percent (28 of 64) and enjoyed a sizable rebounding edge over Kentwood, 43-28.

The Quakers also involved senior Kellen Williams more in the offense. Williams, a 6-foot-5 forward, hadn't been much of a factor early in the tournament, but scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds last night.

He said junior Lyndale Burleson called a team meeting Thursday night and the Quakers talked through some of the reasons they had been struggling. One of the issues raised, Williams said, was his role in the offense.

"Kellen is a big factor. We don't get him the ball, we don't do too well," Brooks said. "We realized we haven't been giving him enough touches and he definitely told us. ... It was good to get him open and get some shots."

Guard Rodney Stuckey scored 22 points and had nine rebounds to lead Kentwood, which had a 13-game winning streak snapped.