Frankford earns Public Class AAAA championship

Frankford's Omar Eskia stepped to the foul line with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter Thursday and allowed his mind to wander.

No longer was he about to hit two crucial foul shots to help secure the Pioneers' 68-63 victory over Bartram in the Public League Class AAAA boys' basketball final. Instead, he envisioned himself back in Frankford's gym.

"I was just thinking practice. If we make the foul shots, we go home," Eskia said.

The senior shooting guard knocked down both of those free throws and 13 seconds later added one more. The Pioneers' starting backcourt, Askia and Keith Washington, combined to shoot 12 for 14 from the line in the second half.

At the end of each Frankford practice, coach Dave Huzzard selects a player to try to make two foul shots and conclude the session. If the player misses, the entire team runs a suicide, an intense running drill. Another player is then selected to step to the foul line, with the same risk at stake. And so on.

"We've had some long practices," Huzzard said. "We shoot a lot of free throws."

In the fourth quarter, Washington, a senior captain, took over for the Pioneers (19-5).

He scored 14 in the quarter, including eight straight for his team over a one-minute period that ended with 0:43 on the clock.

"As a team leader, I knew I had to get it done," Washington said.

With a little less than two minutes left, Washington hit a contested three in front of a diving defender to put the Pioneers ahead, 59-58. Bartram (14-8) failed to retake the lead.

The guard said he knew the shot was good as soon as the ball left his grip, as his release hand remained extended in the air on his way back down the floor.

"He's a clutch player. In the first half, he was taking good shots but couldn't get the ball to roll in," Huzzard said. "That was a huge three."

During stretches of the fourth quarter, it seemed that Washington was in a one-on-one game with Bartram senior Darrell Robinson.

For each basket Washington hit, Robinson seemed to find an answer on the other end. The guard scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth, including a three-pointer and two three-point plays.

"He's been playing that way all year; he carries us," Braves coach James Brown said.

Robinson's second three-point play came on a hard foul with 2:31 left, fouling out Frankford power forward Taylor Bessick. The 6-foot-9 senior had 11 rebounds, including six in the second half.

The Braves were without starting point guard Jarmal Brown, out with a foot injury.

With the win, Frankford will meet La Salle on Saturday in the AAAA City Title game. Bartram will play AAAA runner-up Roman Catholic.

"We're going to have some practices before we see them and hopefully we play better than today, because La Salle is a good team," Washington said.