Andrew Vitelli, The Examiner
2008-04-07 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Mount Carmel guard Troy Franklin made an impression at Towson University before ever playing a game for the Tigers.

Franklin, who has accepted a scholarship to play for Towson next season, scored 14 points and added four assists and four steals to lead the Baltimore All-Stars to a 107-82 victory over the U.S. All-Stars in the Charm City Classic in front of a crowd of 1,938 fans at Towson Center.

Franklin, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, impressed the crowd with his ball-handling and his knack for knocking down contested three-pointers. But what drew the loudest ovation, however, was his alley-oop pass off the backboard to Maryland-bound St. Frances guard Sean Mosley, who delivered an emphatic slam as the Towson Center erupted in applause. Mosley finished with 15 points and six assists.

“In practice, Sean told me to just throw it up anywhere near the rim, and he was gonna go get it,” Franklin said. “So I threw it up.”

Guard Dee Bost of Hargrave Academy in Virginia, who will play for Mississippi State next year, starred for the U.S. All-Stars, scoring 17 points.

The Baltimore All-Stars led, 49-37, at halftime, but the U.S. All-Stars cut it to 59-55 in the third quarter. Franklin, however, answered with a fadeaway three pointer, and his team didn’t look back.

Kim English of Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts, who will play at Missouri next year, led all scorers with 18 points for the Baltimore All-Stars.

Many players who played in past Charm City Challenge games have excelled at the collegiate level and beyond. Josh Boone of the New Jersey Nets, D.J. Strawberry of the Phoenix Suns and Jarrett Jack of the Portland Trail Blazers have all competed in the event on their way to the NBA.

Former Charm City Challenge stars also are flourishing in major college basketball, as 14 teams in the NCAA Tournament had at least one player who played in the event. Joey Dorsey, a former standout at Douglass High who will start for Memphis tonight in the national championship game against Kansas, scored 28 points in the 2002 Baltimore vs. U.S. All-Star Game.

The Charm City Challenge was started in 2001, and the Baltimore All Stars have won six of eight games including the past four. Last year, Baltimore won 116-113 behind 27 points from MVP Malcolm Delaney of Towson Catholic. Delaney now plays for Virginia Tech, where he averaged 9.6 points per game as a freshman.

“We wanted to make sure the Charm City Championship stayed in Baltimore,” said Baltimore coach Kim Rivers, who coaches at Randallstown. “I didn’t want to be the one to drop the ball.”

In the preliminary game, the Baltimore City All-Stars defeated the Baltimore County All Stars, 96-83. Cardinal Gibbons teammates Paul Kouvaris, a 6-foot-6 forward, and Jamar Briscoe, a 5-foot-10 guard, led the City All Stars with 14 points apiece. Jordan Lee, a 6-foot-3 guard from Loch Raven, led all scorers with 15 points and will be playing for Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Champion Coppin State next season.

In the last quarter of the main game, the Baltimore All-Stars pleased the crown with a flurry of dunks, including two by Mosley and one by Mount St. Joseph forward Henry Sims, who will play at Georgetown next season.

“When we got a comfortable lead, we started throwing a little bit of tricks in,” Mosley said. “That’s how we got the crowd into it.”

avitelli@baltimoreexaminer.com