Jefferson's Silas Melson has been on a roll of late, with outbursts of 23, 24 and 52 points during the Democrats' past three games.
The recent performances came shortly after the Gonzaga-bound Melson posted this on his Twitter account:
“I’m ready for college hoop, high school here isn’t fun anymore.”
Jefferson coach Pat Strickland said that was Melson being a kid, and wasn’t reflective of his approach this season.
“He’s been an excellent leader. He’s been having energy and scoring a lot. He’s having fun,” Strickland said.
Melson scored 52 points in a 111-40 win over Franklin, which raised some eyebrows. Melson did most of his damage with a 28-point first quarter, so it wasn't a case of a great player taking advantage of an overwhelmed opponent.
But the lopsided score was the product of waking up the beast, so to speak. Strickland said the No. 1 Democrats took off the press after building a 61-12 halftime lead. But Jefferson went back to pressing later in the game when Strickland felt Franklin tried to get physical with his team.
“They looked like they were trying to hurt us, and my guys got frustrated. It wasn’t like we wanted to run the score up, but we felt like they were trying to hurt us, and we had to put them back to sleep,” Strickland said.
Twitter: @nickdaschel
Ad Choices