Franklin rallies to beat Curtis

TACOMA — Gritty Franklin upstaged the "The Isaiah Thomas Show" in the Tacoma Dome on Friday by coming from behind to upset Curtis on a night when Thomas broke the state-tournament record with a 51-point performance.

Down by 18 points twice in the first half and 58-43 midway through the third quarter, the Quakers battled back and won 80-76 in the semifinals of the Class 4A state boys basketball tournament.

The win puts fifth-ranked Franklin (22-5) in today's title game at 7 p.m. against unranked Central Valley of Spokane, which beat No. 1 South Kitsap 58-48 in Friday's other semifinal.

"I've never seen a more impressive display of heart and fight than that game right there," said Franklin coach Jason Kerr. "I may have to just resign and walk away because I don't think it gets much better than right there."

The Quakers won this game that will qualify for "instant classic" status despite playing the final seven minutes without two fouled-out starters, Venoy Overton and Jordan Daisy.

In the fourth quarter, freshman Peyton Siva led the Quakers with seven points, and Jody Johnson grabbed four rebounds as the Quakers outrebounded the Vikings 16-8.

"Our coach said just keep on attacking, keep on attacking," said Siva, who led the Quakers with 18 points.

The Quakers mounted the comeback by trying to keep the ball out of Thomas' hands and treating every rebound the way a wolf regards a loose piece of meat.

Franklin had 26 offensive rebounds, which Curtis coach Lindsay Bemis called pivotal.

Thomas broke the record of 48 points, set in 1955 by Bob Beckel of Walla Walla against Highland of the Yakima Valley.

The 5-foot-9 junior also broke the individual tournament scoring record; he has 129 points with one game to play. The record was 127 in four games by two Mead athletes, Jeff Brown in 1987 and Adam Morrison in 2003.

Thomas needs only 23 points today to break the all-time career scoring record of 230 set by Sean Mallon of Ferris of Spokane in 2002.

"I mean it's great individually, but it's a team game and a team gets the state championship and we didn't do that," Thomas said.

Thomas said his team "just got tight, started turning the ball over and started yelling at each other, and we don't usually do that."

Franklin had six players in double figures and made 32 of 46 free throws. The 46 attempts tied the state-tournament game record. It happened twice previously, by Puyallup in 1989 against Kennewick, and by Kent-Meridian in 1991 against Mercer Island.

Thomas scored 45 points Thursday in Curtis' 86-81 overtime victory over Mount Tahoma. He opened the tournament with a 33-point performance against Jackson of Mill Creek.

After Curtis of University Place built a 58-43 lead with 3:48 to play in the third quarter, Franklin went on 16-4 tear to trail only 62-59 entering the final quarter.

The Quakers took the lead for good on a layup by Siva at 5:39 to make it 66-65.

Kerr might have summed it up best when he said, "We're not a one-man show."