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Frankford beats Bartram in Public League AAAA final

There are better words to hear when you're looking forward to helping your team in an important basketball game.

Stifling Frankford defense led to the easy win over Bartram. (David Maialetti / Staff Photographer )
Stifling Frankford defense led to the easy win over Bartram. (David Maialetti / Staff Photographer )Read more

There are better words to hear when you're looking forward to helping your team in an important basketball game.

"You look like you're dead. You can't play today."

Omar Askia was inclined to protest that pronouncement from Dave Huzzard, the first-year coach at Frankford High. But he had just arrived a shade late for classes after making an early visit with his mom to Children's Hospital, and he had missed school on Wednesday.

"They said I had strep throat," Askia said. "But that I was getting over it."

The hoops occasion Thursday, at neutral-site Engineering and Science, was a showdown between Frankford and John Bartram for the Public League's berth, vs. La Salle, in next weekend's Class AAAA title (specifics TBA).

"I wasn't missing this," he said.

Well, he almost was.

Shortly before game time, Huzzard pushed Askia hard on his health status.

"I told him I wanted to start," Askia said. "I told him I could do it. I wasn't sure if he'd let me. Usually, you can't start the day after you miss practice. That stuff makes him pretty upset. But all this was legit.

"Even during warmups, I was sweating pretty good. I didn't know how it was going to work out. I felt better when I hit my first three-pointer . . . But later, yeah, I was kind of tired. I had to fight through it. If I didn't show my stuff, I knew we'd lose."

As Frankford triumphed, 68-63, the 6-foot, 170-pound Askia, a senior wing guard, contributed 13 points and as many rebounds.

His shooting performance (3-for-10) was hardly clinic worthy. Come to think of it, was anyone's?

Frankford bricked its way to 21-for-69 from the floor and 20-for-37 at the line. By contrast, Bartram was almost golden at 21-for-58. Alas, it went 14-for-27 at the line. The teams halved 12 treys.

Askia said he began feeling poorly Friday, after Frankford got waxed by Constitution in a Pub quarterfinal. The Pioneers had captured the teams' regular-season meeting.

"I stayed in my house all weekend," Askia said. "I didn't go out at all.

"Having that snow day [on Tuesday, after school was closed Monday for Presidents Day] helped, because I didn't have to go anywhere. When they told me I had strep throat, that made sense, because that was all the stuff I was feeling - bad sore throat with my tonsils and tongue swollen, too.

"I couldn't even talk this morning, which was why my mom took me to the hospital."

Under normal circumstances, Askia is one of four lefthanded starters. A fifth, Dajuan Franks, is often an early frontcourt sub. However, one of the other starters, guard Kevin Lawson, is currently unavailable as he resolves a school issue. (Bartram was missing its point guard, Jarmal Brown, because of a foot injury.)

To get to school, unlike many of his teammates, Askia is not exactly able to walk a short distance. He lives near 27th and Wharton in South Philly and played for Mastery Charter South as a freshman and sophomore.

He would have attended Southern as a junior.

"I wanted something different," he said. "A place where there wasn't trouble, and where I didn't know anybody. I met [star point guard] Keith Washington over that summer, and I decided to come up here with him."

With a 40-32 lead, Frankford appeared to be in command. However, fueled by guards Darrell Robinson (who finished with 28 points, 17 rebounds and four assists), Rasheen Singletary (17) and Barry Brockington (15), Bartram roared to 14 consecutive points, and it was game on!

Ultimately, Frankford won because Washington - 4-for-21 at one point - regained his shotmaking bearings down the stretch. He scored 11 points over the last 3 minutes, and his in-the-lane flip shot put the Pioneers ahead for good, 61-59, with 1:17 showing. Also, he converted a double-bonus at 3.7 to remove all suspense.

With 21 points, 10 boards and eight assists, Washington sniffed a triple-double. Imire Taylor had 13 points; Chris Lewis (10) and Taylor Bessick (seven) helped on the boards; and Donald Robinson, usually a spectator, took a key, late-game charge.

Bartram's next outing, sometime next week, will be a match vs. Roman Catholic to determine the third and fourth AAAA seeds in District 12. (When we know details, so will you.)

Frankford will now bide time all the way until next weekend.

"It hurt us a lot losing to Constitution," Askia said. "We got over it, though. We realized there's still more season to play. We can still do nice things." *