The Oldest, Hottest Rivalry -- It's An Event When Garfield, Franklin Meet

When Garfield and Franklin play, it's more than a basketball game. It's an event. It gives the community something to be proud of, something it can call its own. I don't think it is possible to overhype a Garfield and Franklin game." - Roscoe Bass, former Garfield High School principal.

In the afternoon sunshine outside Franklin High School, Frank Hanawalt gazed at the 81-year-old building on a corner of South Mount Baker Boulevard.

Seven-foot sculptures of hands reaching toward the sky adorn the outside of the school, and a new gymnasium has been built since Hanawalt was principal in the 1970s.

Standing next to him is Roscoe Bass, the Garfield High School principal in the late 1960s.

Their career paths first crossed and intertwined at Garfield. Before becoming Franklin's principal, Hanawalt served as the Garfield's principal in the early 1960s, when Bass was a counselor there.

Over 23 years, their relationship has grown from co-workers to friends to fishing buddies. When they get together, they enjoy reminiscing.

Yesterday, the subject was basketball.

"I was born and raised in Puyallup, and we had a rivalry with Sumner," Hanawalt said. "I understand that Hoquiam and Aberdeen have some sort of rivalry. But you won't find a better matchup in the state than the Franklin-and-Garfield game."

There's more.

"There's always been a real strong rivalry between the two schools," said Bass, 61, principal at Sharples Alternative High School in Seattle.

"A lot of the population in the city either went to Franklin or Garfield, so when they played, they knew each other. And when they played, man, it was hot!"

And more.

"I can remember it being a different climate from the other games," said Hanawalt, 71, who is retired. "All week before the game, there was a lot of talk among teachers, students, parents and the media. A lot of buildup, and you could just feel that it was something special."

So many stories, so little time. In fewer than 24 hours, top-ranked Franklin will meet No. 2 Garfield. To the victor goes the Metro League regular-season title, the top seeding in next week's Metro League tournament, the state's Class AA No. 1 ranking and. . . .

"Bragging rights," Hanawalt said. "When you have schools located that close, there is an extra incentive to win. The kids want to go back to their neighborhoods and say, `This year we won it.' "

Bass advises those who plan to attend the game at Franklin High School to go early. "We would get about 3,000 every time we played Franklin. I kept telling people to sit like you love each other, because we had to pack them in real tight."

Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m., but school officials said spectators should arrive before 6 to assure themselves of a seat.

For whatever reasons - be it tradition, sport or spectacle - the rivalry is the oldest and the most heated in Seattle. In recent years, the annual game was reduced from gargantuan status to just pretty big, but tomorrow's matchup revives the classic feel of the fabled games during the 1960s, Bass and Hanawalt said.

Arguably the best Franklin-Garfield game occurred precisely 30 years from tomorrow - Feb. 12, 1963. Details of the regular-season game are a little cloudy, but everyone involved remembers the excitement.

Hanawalt recalls the winning basket by Garfield's Willie Campbell with one second left. "It was a dunk," Hanawalt said. "He was quite tall and we had dunking in those days. We almost blew the roof off that night with the celebration."

Bass recalls that, "Franklin had a kid named Ray Jones and I think Larry Gossett played at that time. We had Levi Fisher and far better talent, but they almost upset Garfield."

But Jones, assistant athletic director for the Metro League, remembers things a little differently.

"We didn't have anybody over 6 feet 3," said Jones, who along with his brother, Clavard, led the Quakers with 14 points. Franklin's tallest player actually was 6-2 Larry Allen, and the Quakers were outrebounded 42-20.

Fisher, 47, who later played at the University of Washington, called it, "a game I will never forget."

"That was the only year we beat Franklin twice in a season," Fisher said. "We played all of our home games at Franklin the year before because Garfield didn't have a gym, so their place was like home for us."

For the record, Garfield won 46-44 in double overtime and went on to lose in the Class AAA state championship game to Blanchet 36-29, spoiling their bid for a third consecutive title.

"There are some things you never forget, and a Garfield-Franklin game is one of them," Bass said.

------------------------------------------------------------ GARFIELD VS. FRANKLIN

-- WHAT: Metro League boys basketball showdown.

-- GAME: Franklin Quakers vs. Garfield Bulldogs at Franklin High School Friday, 8 p.m.

-- RECORDS: Franklin 13-0 in Metro League, 18-0 overall. Garfield 12-1 in Metro, 15-5 overall.

-- STATE RANKINGS: Franklin first in Class AA rankings; Garfield second.

-- COACHES: Ron Drayton is 37-8 in two seasons at Franklin. JoJo Rodriguez is 38-11 in his second season at Garfield.

-- PROBABLE STARTERS: Franklin - G Antwine Williams, 5-11, sr.; G Derrick Elliott, 5-11, sr.; G Shaae Phillips, 6-3, sr.; F Ed Raiford, 6-3, sr.; F Tommy Mitchell, 6-3, soph. Garfield - G Lovell Brown, 5-10, jr.; G Railen Wheeler, 5-10, sr.; G Nolan Pinkney, 6-2, sr.; F Robert Ream, 6-5, jr.; F Ajene Robertson, 6-5, sr.