WICHITA, Kan.—
Trailing for the better part of Tuesday’s game against West, North head coach Gary Squires knew his team needed to change things up on the offense, more specifically for Conner Frankamp. “We moved Conner out from the baseline to the point and he started making some things happen and started to hit the open man inside,” Squires said. “From there, Conner started going to work on the outside.”
The move paid off as Frankamp scored 13 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 56-52 come-from-behind win over the Pioneers. The junior did most of his damage from the line, making 9-of-9 free throws in the final frame.
“I just try to let the game come to me as the game goes on,” Frankamp said of finding his rhythm down the stretch. “I try not to take any crazy shots and shoot in the flow of the offense and normally it ends up being pretty good.”
With less than two minutes to play and trailing by one, Frankamp drove towards the basket, drawing in four defenders. He quickly dumped the ball off to a wide open Torrance Henderson for the bucket.
West regrouped on their next possession as Jordan Kelly found Dexter McCoy standing alone in the corner for the go-ahead three and the Pioneers took a 52-50 lead.
It didn’t last long. On the next drive, Frankamp was again the center of attention. The junior drove the baseline, and again, drew in a swarm of defenders. Noticing the miss-match, he passed the ball off to Tarius Williams for the game-tying basket.
“I thought he did a great job,” Squires said of Frankamp keeping his composure down the stretch. “As soon as he came across half court, they were doubling him up…he kept his cool because they were really running in and banging him around.”
Williams made the biggest defensive stand of the night, intercepting a pass from Kelly on the ensuing possession. The sophomore quickly dished the ball over to Frankamp who split the defense and laid in the eventual game-winning shot with a minute left.
“That was a big-time steal by Tarius and that play wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for him,” Frankamp said.
Out of a timeout, West tried to work the ball inside to Daylin Thomas, but Frankamp was there for the steal. The junior iced the game from the line, knocking down a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to seal the win.
Frankamp finished with a game-high 29 points as North improved to 8-6 on the season.
West (4-9), which led by six points heading into the fourth quarter, was outscored 21-10 in the final eight minutes. McCoy, Thomas and Jeremy Wilson all finished with 13 points for the Pioneers.
