Franklin reserve guard Jamal Little found out Monday he would be getting his first start of the season Tuesday night against Parkville, replacing leading scorer Khari Gregg, who was out flu. The junior delivered an impressive effort with a game-high 20 points in the Indians’ 57-50 victory.
He was most impressive in the second quarter, scoring seven points during a 23-2 run after the Indians trailed 10-6 in the first quarter.
“I feel like the team needed me at that moment because our main shot taker wasn’t there. So I felt like they needed me, so I stepped up,” said Little, who prepared for the game listening to music in the morning. “I was ready.”
“The kid, Jamal Little, he played big for us tonight because our leading scorer is getting over the flu right now,” Franklin coach Keith Brown said. “[Gregg] is averaging about 17 or 18 points a game and [Little] started for the first time tonight and he actually stepped up and made some big plays for us.”
Parkville used a three-quarter court trap, three steals from Alon Lane and two 3-pointers from Brenden Turkson to jump ahead early.
Turkson led four Knights scoring in double figures. He was joined by Deiron Thomas and Darrel Grissom (11 each) and Lane (10).
Franklin (10-2) also had four players score in double digits. Reggie Asoluka and Jeremiah Askew had 11 each and Jalen Richardson added 10. Asoluka also led the Indians with 12 rebounds despite going against a taller big man in Thomas.
“Reggie normally struggles with guys with more length than him, but he actually did a good job with him tonight,” Brown said.
Parkville went down by 16 points early in the third quarter, but it ramped up the defense and forced seven turnovers and got six points from Turkson, five from Thomas and four points and two more steals from Lane in the third quarter when they got within nine.
Little had five points in the quarter and Asoluka made a clutch 3-point play to stave off a rally.
The Knights refused to fold and eventually cut the lead to six midway through the fourth quarter after Grissom made the second of his three 3-pointers in the quarter. An assist from Grissom to Thomas made it 53-47 with 41 seconds left but four free throws down the stretch salted the victory
“We are a young and inexperienced team, so any time when we come into an opponent that is playing well on the road, to be able to weather some storms and continue to fight, I was really proud of the effort,” Parkville coach Ben Thompson said. “In some ways it give us some confidence that we built because we know we were coming into a team that has been playing well this season. So for us to be right there, we made some runs. One less turnover here, one missed layup, one possession there, it might have been a four-point game.”
Franklin started the season with nine straight victories, but the victory over Parkville broke a two-game losing streak. Parkville has only three victories this year, but all the starters are underclassmen.
“Our goal right now is just to try and be our best version of ourselves by February,” Thompson said.
Brown’s goal is to get his full squad back together. “Our guys played well, we’ve got a couple guys that are injured and kind of sick.”
Franklin’s depth, led by Little, were perfect understudies Tuesday night.
“We have couple guys that are young, we are trying to bring them along and develop them throughout the year, Brown said, “Last year we lost in the second round of the playoffs to Catonsville, a tough one, and the guys really worked hard over the summer.”
Franklin — 10 19 14 14 – 57
Parkville — 10 5 17 18 – 50
FR: Jamal Little 20, Reggie Asoluka 11, Jeremiah Askew 11, Jalen Richardson 10, Donbovan Aus 3, Jordan Young 2.
PKV: Brenden Turkson 14, Deiron Thomas 11, Darrel Grissom 11, Alon Lane 10, Rommel Marquez 2, Carlin Pearson 2.
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