Jefferson 73, Grant 66: Five Takeaways

<p>On Thursday night, the Grant/Jefferson game stood on the schedule all by itself in the Portland Metro area and as expected, the Jefferson gym was filled to capacity for the matchup. While the contest itself wasn't particularly pretty, Jefferson was able to catch fire from three late in the game and built a lead that Grant was unable to overcome for a 73-66 win, avenging the loss the Demos took to the Generals earlier in the year.</p> <p>While we would hesitate to call this one a "classic" due to the overall ugliness of the play, the game was competitive and spirited throughout. After a tight first half, Grant seemed to build some momentum when <strong>Aaron Deloney</strong> hit a three giving the Generals a seven-point lead in the third quarter. But Jefferson found some momentum from off of their bench, with <strong>Trevon Richmond</strong>, <strong>Keylin Vance</strong>, and <strong>Lamar Washington</strong> all hitting threes and the Demos were up by 12 halfway through the fourth. Grant made a late comeback to make things interesting but in the end, Jefferson came away with the 'W'.</p> <p>"We had our moments in spurts that we looked like a very good team but we had some moments that we didn't look so good," said Jefferson head coach Pat Strickland. "We did get some big contributions from our bench, Keylin (Vance) and Lamar (Washington) hit some big threes and Tre Richmond - they are all guys who have started. We'll watch some film and build off of this."</p> <p><strong>Boxscore</strong></p> <p>Jefferson 73, Grant 66</p> <p>Grant (66): Aaron Deloney 7-19 14-18 30, LaQuandre Taylor 5-10 0-0 10, Erik Fraser 1-5 0-0 2, Max von Arx 4-8 1-1 9, Ty Rankin 5-14 2-3 12, Emmanuel Steward 0-5 1-2 1, Cade Ealy 1-1 0-0 2, Aidan Martin 0-3 0-0 0, Miles Morrow 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 23-67 18-24 66.</p> <p>Jefferson (73): Marcus Tsohonis 6-23 2-6 14, Jalen Brown 1-5 0-0 2, Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge 1-4 0-0 2, Trejon Williams 1-3 2-6 4, Kamron Robinson 5-9 1-2 11, Trevon Richmond 4-7 4-4 15, Keylin Vance 4-9 0-0 10, Jonathon Nchekwube 1-1 0-0 2, Lamar Washington 5-8 0-0 13, Jalen Adams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 28-70 9-18 73.</p> <p>GRANT........................... 15 14 17 20 - 66<br /> JEFFERSON....................... 12 16 16 27 - 73</p> <p>3-point goals-Grant 2-25 (Aaron Deloney 2-12, Miles Morrow 0-1, LaQuandre Taylor 0-2, Erik Fraser 0-2, Ty Rankin 0-5), Jefferson 8-23 (Lamar Washington 3-5, Trevon Richmond 3-6, Keylin Vance 2-5, Jalen Adams 0-1, Marcus Tsohonis 0-3, Jalen Brown 0-3). Rebounds-Grant (Ty Rankin 12), Jefferson (Marcus Tsohonis 16). Assists-Grant (Aaron Deloney 2), Jefferson (Lamar Washington 6).</p> <p><strong>Democrats have Deepest Bench in the State</strong></p> <p>Granted, just about every player on the Jefferson roster has started a game at some point. But all season long the Demos have gotten great production from whoever isn't starting and that certainly was the case on Thursday night. <strong>Trevon Richmond</strong> provided a great lift with his corner three-point shooting and some key free throws, <strong>Lamar Washington</strong> also knocked down some threes and dished out some assists, and <strong>Keylin Vance</strong> chipped in with some baskets as well. These contributions proved to be vital as star guard <strong>Marcus Tsohonis</strong> wasn't quite having the kind of offensive game the team has been used to seeing.</p> <p><strong>If Needed, Jefferson Will Out-Muscle You</strong></p> <p>While the offense struggled, the Democrats were able to hang in there against Grant because they simply dominated the backboards. The offensive glass was in particular a buffet line of sorts as Jefferson constantly rebounded their own misses for second, third, and even fourth attempts. <strong>Marcus Tsohonis</strong> often followed his own shot as did <strong>Kamron Robinson</strong> (eight rebounds). <strong>Nathan Rawlins-Kibonge</strong> wasn't much of a factor offensively but he grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots. And for a short stint in the first half, big man <strong>Jonathon Nchekwube</strong> grabbed four rebounds and registered a couple of rejections. Jefferson's combination of size and athleticism in the interior is virtually unmatched.</p> <p><strong>Jefferson Can Always Catch Fire</strong></p> <p>For the most of the game, the Democrats were simply struggling with putting the ball in the basket. So many of their shots were in and out and nothing was falling at all. But in one stretch in the fourth quarter, Jefferson simply caught fire. <strong>Trevon Richmond</strong> hit a couple of threes and the Democrats converted a couple of drive and dishes for easy scores. The Demos can not only catch fire but they can catch fire quickly and before Grant knew it, they were down by 10 points in the fourth quarter.</p> <p><strong>It's Hard to Close Out Grant</strong></p> <p>Jefferson led by double figures going into the final minutes of the game, but Grant made a late run. The reason why? Seniors such as <strong>Aaron Deloney</strong> and <strong>Ty Rankin</strong> are "refuse to lose" type of guys and they never quit. Rankin personally scored eight of his points in the fourth quarter including a couple of buckets in the last minute of the game. And while Deloney struggled from three-point range, he continually put pressure on Jefferson by taking it strong to the hole and drawing fouls - he shot 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.</p> <p><strong>Bottom Line - They're Tied</strong></p> <p>With the win, Jefferson evened up with Grant in the standings and it's likely the two teams will end up tied in the final regular season PIL standings. With the current playoff system, it won't matter that they are co-champions and both will have OSAA ratings within the top eight (Jefferson jumped up to #2 with the win, Grant is at #6) that will guarantee them two home games going into the state tournament. It would not be surprising to see these two teams meet for a third and final time - the question will be which round at the Chiles Center it will be.</p>