The season may not have gone according to plan for Little Rock Fair's Antonio Pointer, but the senior got a chance to atone for it Tuesday night.
Pointer scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Team Franks to a 109-96 victory over Team Trembley in the 15th Annual All-Metro Classic at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock.
The game featured seniors who played for high schools around Pulaski Country, several of which also participated in last week's state championship weekend in Hot Springs. Pointer's War Eagles had aspirations to play for a state title but came up short in the quarterfinals. Winning Tuesday's all-star game didn't earn him a championship trophy, but it did give him a lasting memory in his final high school game.
"I just wanted to come out here and have fun," said Pointer, whose War Eagles were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A Tournament by eventual champion Jonesboro. "I hadn't played with a lot of the guys out here, and it was really fun. I actually want to come out here, stay focused and have a pretty good game. And thankfully, I did."
Pointer went 8 of 15 from the floor and hit six of his team's 18 three-pointers while earning Most Valuable Player honors for Team Franks, coached by Pulaski Academy's Roger Franks.
"It was such a lot of fun," Franks said. "It's nice to sit on the bench and be relaxed for a change. It was really good to see a couple of my guys, Marcus [Wallace] and Chad [Michaelis], play one last time before they move on because we're going to really miss them next season.
"But we just told all the guys that [Tuesday] was about them, and we wanted everybody to look good. And the way you look your best is to help everybody else look good, and I think they did that."
Wallace hit 4 three-point baskets and finished with 20 points for Team Franks. Michaelis scored seven points but grabbed nine rebounds. Jacksonville's Sergio Berkley and Episcopal Collegiate's William Pollock each finished with 13 points while Little Rock Fair's Deshun Gray added nine. Little Rock Hall's Greg Easter turned in a well-rounded performance as well, ending the night with 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Anthony Black, Easter's teammate at Hall, was named the Most Valuable Player for Team Tremley, coached by Little Rock Christian's Austin Trembley. Black ended the night with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals.
"The main thing about the game was to come out and have run," Black said. "But it was my last game in high school, and I really wanted to win. So tried to play my hardest out there.
"When we were down, I wanted to play hard and get my team to play hard so we could try to come back and get the win, but we just fell short."
Kaylon Tappin, one of four Little Rock Hall players to participate in the game, followed Black with 17 points and four rebounds while Jacksonville's Kanaan Jackson had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Demarcus Rhodes, of Hall, added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Team Trembley led by as many as nine in the first half and held a 29-20 advantage following a Rhodes' dunk with 9:01 left, but Pointer's 22-footer started a string of four consecutive three-point baskets for Team Franks. Team Trembley eventually regained the lead following a Tappin dunk, but a layup from North Little Rock's Chibu Ekeh allowed Team Franks to close out the half on a 15-4 run to lead 51-44 at intermission.
Team Franks continued to lead throughout the second, pushing its cushion to as many as 19 before Black led a late surge to get his team close. His three-pointer with 1:45 left in the game got Team Trembley to within 100-94, but Michaelis' putback led a string of nine consecutive points to enable Team Franks to pull away.
"Such a lot of fun," Trembley said. "You get to meet so many of these kids, and it's really enjoyable. I coach in the 5A-Central so I knew a lot of them. But reading the papers, understanding who they are and just being around them. Seeing them out there smiling made it that much better."
Sports on 03/19/2014