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Thursday, December 27, 2001

By Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

SCHOOL: Monessen

WHO IS SHE? A 5-foot-10 guard and one of the best sophomore basketball players in the state.

	Charel Allen: Already closing in on 1,000 career points. (John Heller, Post-Gazette)

LAST WEEK: Allen scored 26 points in a 79-18 victory against Winchester Thurston last Thursday. On Dec. 18, she had 22 points in a 45-38 victory against Geibel.

SEASON: Allen is one of the leading scores in the WPIAL with a 23.8 average.

CAREER: Although she is only in 10th grade, Allen will probably go over 1,000 points in a few weeks. She had 660 points as a freshman and now has 850. She set a WPIAL Class A championship game record last season when she scored 39 points in the title game against Clairton.

MAKING POINTS: Allen seems to have an excellent chance at scoring more than 2,000 points before she finishes her career. But it's unlikely she'll finish as the school's all-time leading scorer. Gina Naccarato scored 3,364 points in four years in the mid 1990s. Naccarato, whose total also is the WPIAL all-time record, is a Monessen assistant.

"I don't know if I can get her record. She averaged like 30 a game as a sophomore," Allen said. "She's a good coach. She's helped me out a lot. She used to drive to the hoop a lot when she was in high school. She's showing me moves of how to drive to the hoop."

CARRYING THE LOAD: Monessen relies heavily on Allen's scoring. The Greyhounds average 55.3 points a game, and Allen scores almost half of those.

SHOOTING FOR THE TITLE: Allen's main goal is to win the WPIAL title, and preferably within the next two seasons. Monessen lost to Clairton in the title game last year, and Clairton features Kamela Gissendanner, considered one of the top juniors in the state.

"I'm trying to win a championship before Kamela leaves," Allen said. "I don't want to win one after she leaves and people say we only won it because she left."

FAST COMPANY: Allen played on the Western Pennsylvania Bruins AAU team last summer. The team was coached by Carlynton Coach Mike McConnell and finished ninth in the AAU national championships. One of Allen's teammates was Fox Chapel sophomore Meagan Cowher.

FORGET DANCE: Allen's mother used to put her in tap dance and ballet classes when she was younger. "But I quit and started playing basketball the rest of my life," Allen said.

SCHOOL: Plum

WHO IS HE? A 5-foot-10, 150-pound junior and one of the top point guards in the WPIAL.

LAST WEEK: Franklin had two big games in two big Plum victories. He had 24 points in a 73-67 overtime victory against Central Catholic last Friday. Central Catholic was ranked No. 5 in WPIAL Class AAAA. He had 21 points in a 59-46 victory against Hempfield Saturday. Hempfield came in with an 8-0 record.

SEASON: Franklin is averaging 20.1 points and five assists a game.

CAREER: Franklin has been Plum's starting point guard since his freshman year. He was an all-WPIAL Class AAAA Section 4 selection as a sophomore.

GOOD GENES: Franklin's father, Bobby Sr., was a standout player at Point Park College. The elder Franklin is in Point Park's Hall of Fame.

FROM SOCCER TO BASKETBALL: From kindergarten through seventh grade, Franklin attended Shady Side Academy, and his best sport was soccer. In fact, he never played organized basketball until the eighth grade. Then, Ron Richards became Plum's coach, and he knew Franklin's father. Although Bobby Jr. attended Shady Side Academy, his family lived in Plum.

"I knew his dad from playing pickup games and I asked him to bring his son up to an open gym in the summer," Richards said. "Two days later, he enrolled him at Plum. Bobby [Jr.] might not have played organized basketball, but he had played some here and there. He had very, very good instincts. You could just tell he had some ability and potential."

Franklin played for Plum's eighth-grade team and averaged more than 20 points a game.

"When I got to eighth grade, I realized I had things in basketball that other kids my age didn't," Bobby Jr. said. "I started taking basketball serious then. Soccer just kind of fell out."

DIVISION I FUTURE? Richards believes Franklin is a Division I college prospect for next season. Franklin played well in some AAU tournaments this past summer for the Pittsburgh Shockers and was a teammate of Bryant McAllister, West Mifflin's star guard who has signed with Duquesne University.

"He's getting some decent interest right now from Division I schools," Richards said. "People I've talked to feel he could be a mid-major Division I guy. He's definitely quick enough and fast enough. He can defend and make all the passes. But he's only 5-10. If people are hung up on size, then some schools might overlook him. But he can play."