Franklin Porter has one of the area’s most fundamentally sound games, an array of pumpfakes and efficient, effective moves that regularly get Porter open shots.
And when the 6-foot-4 sophomore guard gets hot? Nights like Tuesday happen.
“A lot of people now jump on pump fakes and stuff,” Porter said. “It’s just slower than everything they’re used to so it, so it works for me.”
Porter caught fire in the second quarter of Miller’s 76-45 victory over St. Christopher’s in the first round of the VISAA Division 1 playoffs. He turned a tight contest after the first frame into a blowout with a 13-point stretch that helped give the Mavericks a 40-19 lead at the break.
“My teammates have been telling me to come out there and shoot,” Porter said. “I got in the gym this weekend and got a lot of shots up and I came out ready to shoot it.”
Porter’s hot shooting from beyond the arc — he hit five 3-pointers in the game — forced St. Christopher’s to extend its defense, which opened things up down low. Big man Tony Washington had seven third quarter points to snuff out any hope of a rally for the Saints while Isaac Copeland finished with 15 for the game after he got Miller started with an 8-point first quarter.
Miller ran away with things from there and rested the starters for most of the fourth quarter because Miller is facing a quick turnaround. The win pushes Miller into the VISAA quarterfinals Wednesday and it’s a tall task — No. 2-ranked Bishop O’Connell, who just won the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference title last night.
For his part, Miller coach Scott Willard was just relieved to see his team find a rhythm last night. The Mavericks have stumbled into the postseason on a nearly team-wide shooting slump that they finally snapped out of against the Saints.
“Truthfully we haven’t shot it that well all month,” Willard said. “It’s good to get home and hit shots. We’re going to have to hit shots like that to have a chance tomorrow.”
Cameron Smith and Connor Schroeder each had solid offensive nights too, with Smith scoring eight and unleashing a huge dunk down the stretch. Schroeder finished with seven after coming off the bench.
Miller had some trouble containing Rodney Williams, St. Christopher’s Drexel-bound forward who is a relentless player underneath the basket. Williams finished with 18 points but without Washington’s length and height bothering him, it was clear Williams has the ability to go for much more.
“It’s good to have a 6-foot-10 guy with length and size to put against him to at least make it difficult for him to score,” Willard said.
Now the Mavericks turn their attention to nationally-ranked Bishop O’Connell to try and keep their season alive for another day.
