Taft’s Franklin Hits Stop Sign in 68-59 Loss

It has become a ritual this season for Taft High basketball fans to hang “K” signs for each point All-City forward Kevin Franklin scores during a game. He had scored at least 30 points in every Valley League game this season, and the string of “Ks” stretched several yards.

But there were no “Ks” on the walls of the Kennedy gymnasium Tuesday. The Franklin followers couldn’t keep their signs taped to the bumpy surface of the wall.

The signs they tried to hang fell harmlessly away, much like Franklin’s shots.

The 6-4 senior played the entire game and wasn’t in foul trouble, but he had only four points in the first 30 minutes. He wound up with a season-low 10 points as Kennedy defeated Taft, 68-59.

The win improved Kennedy’s overall record to 13-5, 7-3 in league, and enhanced the team’s chances at a third-place finish. Taft is 14-6, 6-5.

“I was afraid this was going to happen,” Taft Coach Jim Woodard said. “It was the best effort against him all season. Not every team can do something like that to Kevin.”

Franklin made of 5 of 13 shots--the first time all season he has shot under 50%. He opened the game with a 10-foot basket, but that was his last uncontested attempt. Kennedy Coach Yutaka Shimizu put two or more defenders on Franklin and for the rest of the game, the only escape from his court escorts came during timeouts.

“When I touched the ball there were three or four guys on me,” Franklin said. “I tried to compensate for it. I’ve faced a zone before, but I never had two guys hanging on me with a third ready to help.”

Said Shimizu: “Our team just played a zone. But we were very conscious of where Franklin was. The last time we tried a man-to-man defense and he got 38 points.”

Franklin made 2 of 7 shots in the first half as Taft trailed, 32-30. In the second half, Taft forward Darren Kolinsky tied the game at 32 on a 20-foot shot.

Woodard briefly tried a four-corner offense on Taft’s next possession to try and open things up for Franklin. After standing around on offense for a minute, Franklin finally got the ball at the free throw line. But as Franklin darted to the hoop, he dribbled the ball off his leg and out of bounds.

The only other attempt of the third quarter for Franklin came with 1:27 remaining when he missed an off-balance, one-hand shot from the top of the key.

The game remained close midway in the third quarter and a basket by Taft’s Vernon Middleton cut Kennedy’s lead to 38-36 with 3:54 remaining. Kennedy utilized the outside shooting of Uba Satterfield (19 points) and Marcus Malone (17 points and 13 rebounds), and went on a 10-3 run late in the third quarter to take a 48-39 lead.