Jefferson (OR) Barely Hangs on to Defeat Beamer

Jefferson (OR) Barely Hangs on to Defeat Beamer
By Colin Caruso

In the final game of the Unity in the Community Showcase, the Todd Beamer Titans hosted the Jefferson Democrats from Oregon. Unfortunately for Root Sports they did not televise this game, as this was by far the most entertaining matchup. Jefferson has one loss on the year, to the mighty Rainier Beach Vikings. Beamer also had one loss entering this contest, to the Lincoln Abes.

Jefferson began this contest unconsciously hot from long range. Back to back 24 point quarters with a total of eight three pointers made put the Beamer Titans in a big hole. Also, Beamer couldn’t get past the two towers for the Democrats, both standing over 6’9″ and turning away most shots at the rim. Jefferson led convincingly 48-22 at the half.

The Beamer staff decided that after the first half it was time to put into effect the terrorizing Beamer full court press. Todd Beamer is an interesting team in that they have five or six players who all hover around the 6’4″ and 6’5″ range who all move well. Their diamond press proved extremely challenging for the Democrats, who only put up 5 points in the third quarter.

By pressing with your best players, you also risk the occurrences of random fouls far away from the basket. This began to hurt the Titans, as their leading scorer in the contest and captain Trey Burch-Manning fouled out. This put a cap to the fantastic comeback for Todd Beamer, who once came as close as four points late in the fourth quarter. But Jefferson held on while only scoring 19 points in the second half to a 67-60 win.

Top Performer:
Jefferson
Silas Melson – 25 points