Parkrose 66, La Salle 52: Most Intriguing Prospects
Tuesday was the start of league play for the powerful Northwest Oregon Conference and the top game of the night was Parkrose at La Salle. The Broncos had been on a tear after a rough loss to defending champion Thurston,…
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Continue ReadingTuesday was the start of league play for the powerful Northwest Oregon Conference and the top game of the night was Parkrose at La Salle. The Broncos had been on a tear after a rough loss to defending champion Thurston, but Parkrose was dominant on both ends and led from buzzer to buzzer in defeating the Falcons, 66-52.
“The Thurston game, we got a taste of what big boy basketball was all about – they’re a worthy champion and they showed it,” said Parkrose head coach Donell Morgan. “I think the lesson we learned was that we have to play a whole game and I thought tonight our calling card was defense. A team like La Salle is going to make some runs and I thought we stayed together as a group and Shawn Briggs and Damonte Burns were big for us.”
Using a disciplined offensive attack, Parkrose led 14-4 after the first quarter and 27-15 at the half. The pace changed in the second half and La Salle started hitting some shots from the outside to get within six multiple times. But each time the Falcons came close, the Broncos had a response and Parkrose won going away. Shawn Briggs led the way with 19 points, while Travion Weiss added 13 and Damonte Burns had 10. Jace Norton scored a team-high 17 points for La Salle.
Here are the most intriguing prospects from the game:
Shawn Briggs (2019 Parkrose) – Stats: 19 pts, 4 reb.
A point guard, the 5-foot-10 actually focused in more on scoring with his first basket a three followed by quick drives to the basket where he capably finished on all sides of the rim or got fouled and got to the line. Defensively, he was sticky on the ball and was very good in transition.
Travion Weiss (2019 Parkrose) – Stats: 13 pts, 8 reb.
Weiss is a unique player at 6-foot-4, 255-pounds in that he is very nimble on his feet and has good ball-handling skills. The lefty used his girth to power his way to the basket but he also stepped out and hit a couple of jumpers, including a baseline three. Weiss was a matchup nightmare for La Salle who had nobody who could match up with him one-on-one.
Damonte Burns (2021 Parkrose) – Stats: 10 points, 5 reb, 4 ast.
A fluid athlete, the 6-foot-1 sophomore got in a little foul trouble in the first half but made up for it with some quick and easy drives in the second. While the majority of his points were at the rim, Burns also had very nice looking crossover dribble that completely shook his defender and he pulled up for the clean 18-footer. Burns also got in transition and had a couple of nice-looking assists on the break.
Solomon Campbell (2019 Parkrose) – Stats: 5 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast.
Campbell didn’t have huge numbers but at 6-foot-9 he draws attention simply because of that. Despite his reed thin frame, he fought hard to get position posting up but usually passed the ball off instead of working for his own shot. He runs the floor well and was rewarded with a couple of easy buckets late in the game.
Jace Norton (2019 La Salle) – Stats: 17 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast, 7-23 fg, 3-13 3pt.
Norton is the main scorer for the Falcons but he definitely launched a lot of shots, especially from three. His outside shot wasn’t really falling (the actual percentage is skewed by the fact he tossed up a bunch of hurried threes late in the game) but to his credit he took it strong to the basket and had several easy layups especially in transition. In the second half, he drove and tossed it out to other shooters as well for open shots.
Justin North (2019 La Salle) – Stats: 14 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast.
The 6-foot-2 senior is all energy all the time. He was all over the court on both ends, hitting a couple of threes and fighting for rebounds.
Nic Boyd (2021 La Salle) – Stats: 6 pts, 1 reb, 2-6 3pt.
Boyd started the game and hit a couple of deep threes in the first half, but mysteriously didn’t play much in the second. During the time he was in the game, the 5-foot-10 guard took good care of the ball.