Fairfax Mugs Taft, Spoils Franklin’s One-Man Show

Mirror, mirror, on the wall . . . .

How fair is the Fairfax High basketball team? Depends on the meaning.

In terms of beauty, Fairfax is without doubt the fairest of them all.

In terms of equality . . . well, playing the Lions just ain’t fair. Ask Kevin Franklin and his Taft High teammates just how unfair Fairfax can be.

In a Valley League game at Taft on Friday, Franklin was like an able fighter cornered by a band of thugs. Sure, he got in plenty of shots before going down. But there was little doubt who would walk away a winner.

Fairfax beat Taft, 74-63, after taking a 19-point first-quarter lead. Franklin, the leading scorer in the Valley with a 33-point average, had a career-high 41 points. But Chris Mills, Sean Higgins and J.D. Green--the Triple Towers--combined for 54 points for Fairfax.

The Lions have feasted on Valley League teams, averaging 100 points per game and winning by scores like 111-53, 103-48, 92-55 and 104-66.

“After the first quarter I thought they’d score 130,” Taft Coach Jim Woodard said. “But we hung in there nicely.”

Taft was victimized by that 104-66 score, so Friday’s 11-point loss was a less unpleasant way to go. Taft (12-5, 4-4) even outscored Fairfax, 50-42, in the last three quarters.

The Lions are 16-0 and 8-0 in league. They are ranked third in the nation by USA Today and first in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.

Taft was never within 10 points after the first few minutes. Rather than enjoying a contest, the fans who packed into the Taft gym were treated to spectacular individual performances.

There were three soaring dunks by Mills (6-7) and one each by Higgins (6-9) and Green (6-7). There was Franklin, who had 41 points, making 14 of 24 shots--from every conceivable angle--and 13 of 15 free throws.

“We wanted to deny him the ball,” Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani said. Green, Higgins and David Henderson alternated covering Franklin, but he made shots over each.

The most remarkable shot, though, was an 18-foot jumper by Taft guard Jason Bromberg that clanked off the front of the rim. Bromberg leads the Valley in assists--he had 10 on Friday--but has taken only nine shots all season. He was forced to make an attempt against Fairfax as time expired in the third quarter.

A representative from the NCAA met with Higgins following the game but not to congratulate him on his performance.

The senior forward signed a letter of intent to attend UCLA during the early signing period but now wants out. The matter has been turned over the the Pac-10, and presumably, the NCAA has taken an interest. Neither Higgins nor the official would comment.

Before the game, Kitani was unconcerned that the situation would detract from Higgins’ game.

“He’s young and this has to affect him somewhat,” Kitani said, “but his stats are similar to last season. It hasn’t affected the team’s performance.”

Not noticeably, anyway. It would probably take a citywide ban on 17-year-olds over 6-6 to ax Fairfax.