HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL STATE TOURNAMENTS

Macon, Franklin aren’t bit players anymore

Jaylen Franklin (left) and Daryl Macon waited for their turn to be the go-to players for Little Rock Parkview. They have led the top ranked Patriots to a 24-1 record, which has made them a favorite going into this week’s Class 6A state tournament in Jonesboro.
Jaylen Franklin (left) and Daryl Macon waited for their turn to be the go-to players for Little Rock Parkview. They have led the top ranked Patriots to a 24-1 record, which has made them a favorite going into this week’s Class 6A state tournament in Jonesboro.

Waiting their turn was not always easy for Daryl Macon and Jaylen Franklin, but their patience has paid off for Little Rock Parkview.

The top-ranked Patriots (24-1) cruised through the regular season, beating 18 of their 20 Arkansas foes by 10 or more points. They will enter this week’s Class 6A state tournament as a favorite to claim the program’s 13th state title and its third in the past four years.

Parkview will open state tournament play at 8:30 Thursday night in Jonesboro against Texarkana.

The tournament was originally scheduled to start Tuesday, but Sunday’s winter storm has forced the Arkansas Activities Association to delay the start of all the tournaments until Thursday, including the Class 4A and Class 7A, which were originally scheduled to begin today.

Macon and Franklin played secondary roles in the program’s success the past few years, but now they can boast to leading the Patriots to their best regular-season record in more than 20 years.

“They’ve played behind certain guys and now they feel like it’s their turn,” Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. “That’s the way it is here at Parkview. If you come here, we don’t give you anything right away. You have to work for it. Those guys have worked for it, and now it’s their time.”

Macon said it was not easy sitting on the bench in key moments, playing behind first-team All-Arkansas players I.J. Ready and Anton Beard,

“It got irritating at times, but I knew my time would come,” said Macon, a 6-1 senior. “That’s why I was patient.”

Ready is now a freshman point guard at Mississippi State and Beard, a University of Arkansas signee, transferred to North Little Rock for his senior season.

Macon has taken full advantage of the opportunity, averaging 21 points and 2.6 assists a game for the Patriots.

“Daryl has always been a shooter,” Flanigan said. “When I put Daryl in the game, it took shots away from I.J. and [Anton]. It really wasn’t a good fit to have three of them in the game at the same time.”

“I always knew I was good as anyone in the state, but I was lacking some confidence,” Macon said. “I just needed that confidence.”

Franklin, a junior, started some as a sophomore and Flanigan said the youngster had as much ability as Ready and Beard, but he sometimes passed up offensive opportunities.

Franklin said Flanigan has given him a greater responsibility this season.

“Coach has put me in a different spot, a tough spot,” said Franklin, who is averaging 15.4 points and five rebounds a game. “I have to control the floor. He wants me to be the floor general. He wants me to score. He wants me to be a leader.”

Flanigan said he has come down harder on this team more than he has others in the past, joking that he treats them “like they are 1-24 instead of 24-1.”

“I’ve done that for the simple reason I knew they could be a good team,” Flanigan said. “I wasn’t going to let them get the big head or let them get down on themselves.”

The strategy seems to have worked. The Patriots have played with a purpose.

“We’ve all got a lot of confidence and Coach has a lot of confidence in us,” Franklin said. “That’s why he wants us to shoot it because he knows we have confidence in our shots.

“We’re not selfish. We look for each other. We feed off each other.”

Parkview’s overwhelming play in the regular season cast the Patriots as a favorite to reach next week’s finals in Hot Springs, but the Patriots have refrained from looking ahead.

“We’re a team,” Macon said. “There’s no ball hogs out there. We’re not worried about any championship game right now because we’ve still got to get by a first round, a second round and a third round before we get there.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 03/05/2014

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