Rose City Rebels Capture the Rose City Showcase Title
In its 16 years of existence, the Rose City Showcase has carried the reputation of hosting some of the best talent in the country. While this year’s edition of the tournament may not have had the national names it had in the past, it certainly had some of the top ballers in the Pacific Northwest. And that couldn’t have been more evident in the finals of the Elite 17Us, where the hometown Rose City Rebels stormed back in the second half to force overtime and eventually defeat the Northwest Panthers, 105-100.
“To come back and get a win over a Northwest Panthers team in front of our fans is really big,” said Rebels coach Kendrick Williams. “Especially with the rich history of the Rose City Showcase, we’re really happy to get the ‘W’.”
The game was fairly tight in the first half with neither team holding a lead larger than single digits. But midway through the second half, it appeared that the Northwest Panthers were starting to pull away behind the athletic performances of Seattle rising seniors P.J. Fuller (2019 Garfield) and Jamon Kemp (2019 Garfield). High school teammate MarJon Beauchamp (2020 Garfield) also scored both inside and out.
But some long range shooting from Aaron Deloney (2019 Grant) kept the Rebels within striking distance and when Kemp was called for a technical foul on a pushoff late in the game, the Rebels made a mini-run to knot the game at 96 at the end of regulation.
In overtime, baskets from Deloney and Marcus Tsohonis (2019 Jefferson) – who joined the team just for the finals – got the Rebels going and they never looked back to post the 105-100 win in what end up being one of the most exciting finishes in the tournament’s history.
Deloney led the way with 38 points and five assists, while Tsohonis chipped in with almost 20 points and close to ten rebounds. Josh Angle (2019 Lake Oswego) knocked down a couple of key threes and finished with 12. Fuller, Kemp, and Beauchamp were the main scorers for the Northwest Panthers, with each scoring 15-20 points each.
For the Rebels, the win was sweet as wins were challenging to come by in the EYBL. They’ll take the month to focus on school ball and then it will be back to work together after that. “I feel like this tournament really got us better as a team and made us play together a lot more,” Deloney said. “So in July, I think we’ll have a lot of momentum.”