LITTLE ROCK — Franklin worthy of praise, too

Jaylen Franklin should not be considered an afterthought in a talented Little Rock Parkview lineup, says Patriots Coach Al Flanigan.

While Mississippi State signee I.J. Ready and junior standout Anton Beard collect the majority of the attention, Franklin, a 6-1 sophomore, has compiled some solid statistics and has reaped plenty of praise from the Patriots coach.

“He’s been playing third fiddle,” Flanigan said of Franklin. “I’ve told him that every time he steps on that floor, he needs to feel like he’s just as good as anyone out there, which he is. He’s got a lot of athletic ability and I get on him all the time about him standing around and watching those other two, because he can take over a game himself.”

Franklin scored eight points in the first quarter of Friday’s 83-50 home victory over Fort Smith Northside. He finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

For the season, Franklin is averaging 11.2 points per game.

“I like his intensity and I like his attitude,” Flanigan said. “He works hard.”

PARKVIEW GIRLS

Winning the close ones

Both of the Little Rock Parkview Lady Patriots’ home conference games this season have been decided by two points, both of which ended in the home team’s favor.

“Our home court should be worth a little more than that,” Parkview Coach Lahoma Howard said. “But hey, I’ll take it. A win is a win.”

The Lady Patriots (9-1, 4-0 7A/6A-Central) survived a few lulls Friday in the their 57-55 victory over Fort Smith Northside. The Lady Bears (17-2, 4-1) scored the game’s first six points, led 18-9 after the first quarter and 33-25 at the half.

Parkview also failed to score a field goal in the game’s final 3:20. But the Lady Patriots managed to hold off the visitors’ rally by making two steals in the game’s final 14 seconds.

The difference in Friday’s game was the third quarter. Parkview scored 17 of the third quarter’s final 19 points and was 10 of 14 from the floor in the quarter.

“This was our first trip to Little Rock, and it was our first time playing Parkview [on the road],” Northside Coach Rickey Smith said. “It was tough, and we were rattled. We really didn’t play well all night, but Parkview made us play that way.”

Senior guard Roshunda Johnson scored six of her 10 points during that thirdquarter stretch.

“I think we just did a good job of tightening up on defense and helping each other out,” Howard said. “We started making some of those easy baskets that we didn’t make in the first half. We finished and that’s what we talked about at halftime.”

Parkview, which plays rival Little Rock Hall on Tuesday, also earned a twopoint home victory over Greenwood in the conference opener.

LITTLE ROCK HALL

Not coming home empty

Little Rock Hall’s trip to the 29th Annual Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions in Springfield, Mo., did not go completely unrewarded.

University of Arkansas signee Bobby Portis hit 13 of 18 shots from the floor and finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds as the Warriors defeated Plano (Texas) Prestonwood Christian 55-39 in Saturday’s seventh-place game at the JQH Arena.

Hall suffered an openinground loss to the nation’s top-ranked team — Montverde (Fla.) Academy — on Thursday and a 68-58 loss to Bullitt East of Mount Washington, Ky., in Friday’s consolation semifinals.

Dayton Artis and Roy Owens added eight points each in Saturday’s victory.

CLARKSVILLE

Lee hits milestone

Clarksville senior guard Dederick Lee scored his 2,500th point on Friday night during the Panthers’ 74-68 home victory over Harrison.

Lee scored a season-high 29 points Friday, giving him 2,525 for his career.

“It’s just a testament to his consistency and to his work ethic,” Clarksville Coach Tony Davis said. “He has busted his tail to have accomplished what he has, and he’s just as good a kid as he is a player.”

Davis said Lee is averaging 17.5 points per game this season, which is more than 10 points less than what he averaged as a sophomore.

“Because of all the weapons we have, he doesn’t have to put up all the crazy numbers he did as a sophomore,” Davis said. “He can pick and choose which games he will take over.”

SHORT SHOTS

Harrison’s Alex Rose failed to score in the first quarter of Friday’s loss to Clarksville, but he finished with 43 points. Rose scored 20 points in the second quarter.

Cameron Jones was not the leading scorer for Trumann in the Wildcats’ 73-66 victory over Highland on Friday night, but he finish with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Top-scoring honors went to teammate A.J. Winningham, who had 24 points.

Gosnell’s Tre Howe put together back-to-back superb efforts. On Thursday, Howe had 21 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals in a 68-46 victory over Jonesboro Westside. On Friday, he had 34 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists in a 73-66 victory over Cave City.

Sports, Pages 31 on 01/20/2013