Jackson, Scott shine among local basketball all-stars

BATTLE GROUND — Opponents challenged Keaton Jackson all night long.

Keaton Jackson swatted away those challenges, all night long.

When the Les Schwab Tires Roundball Shootout was over, Jackson had a triple-double and was the easy choice for the star of stars award.

Jackson, a 6-foot-9 post from Prairie High School, scored 23 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, and blocked 13 shots Sunday, leading Team Blue to 114-108 victory over Team White in the boys game Sunday night at Battle Ground High School.

Shamerica Scott of Evergreen was voted the star of stars for the girls game, which tipped off the showcase featuring most of the top senior basketball players from Southwest Washington.

Jackson had his triple-double just a minute into the second half when he recorded his 10th block of the game.

“I’m a pretty good shot-blocker but this was a surprise because this is the best of the best,” Jackson said.

Because of injuries and illness, Team Blue had six players and had to endure the frantic pace of an all-star game.

“It was tough,” Jackson said. “All six of us were looking at the clock. We were ahead most of the game, but we were ready to get it over with.”

Jason Moore of Battle Ground also had 23 points. Gunnar Wahl of Columbia River added 22, and Warren Edmondson of Evergreen had 21 points for Team Blue, which led for the final eight minutes of the contest.

Bryan Butler of Camas led Team White with 18 points. Joshua Hall of Hockinson added 16, and Oshay Piper of Evergreen and Keith Kirkland of Fort Vancouver each scored 14 points. Piper also had a game-high eight assists.

Scott was dominant for Team Blue, leading the squad with 19 points and 19 rebounds in a 72-69 win over Team White.

Scott made a free throw with four seconds left to give Team Blue a three-point lead. She missed the second shot, but fittingly, she chased down the rebound to seal the victory.

“I was just playing. I didn’t even know (about the numbers),” Scott said. “I was seriously surprised. It’s a blessing. I hope I’ve got this game on video.”

Tori Conley of Evergreen and Lauren Heller of Columbia River each had 10 points. Katrina Chamberlain of La Center grabbed 15 rebounds, and Angela Gelhar of Prairie led Team Blue with seven assists.

Charity Arn of Woodland led Team White with 16 points — going 9 of 11 from the line — and eight rebounds. Lauren Goecke of Prairie had the top all-around game for her squad, with 14 points, eight steals, seven assists, and five rebounds.

There were other surprises, too. A couple of post players — Lanae Adams of Prairie and Darius Goldman of Hudson’s Bay — won the 3-point shooting contests. Adams won while wearing jeans. She has a torn ACL and could not play in the game. Goldman, meanwhile, said he took two 3-pointers during the season for the Eagles. He made 21 in the one-minute finals in this exhibition.

Kirkland of Fort Vancouver won the dunk contest, now a family tradition. Older brother Kenny Kirkland won the dunk title in 2009.

Girls game

BLUE 72, WHITE 69

BLUE — Shamerica Scott 19, Tori Conley 10, Lauren Heller 10, Natalie Conrad 9, Shashaw Wilson 8, Angela Gelhar 7, Katrina Chamberlain 4, Bre Ongley 3, Haley Holboke 2, Sarah Mason 0. Totals 27-93 (3-18) 15-36 72.

WHITE — Charity Arn 16, Lauren Goecke 14, Marissa Moore 9, Hannah Ingraham 6, Melissa Williams 5, Coleen Pritchett 5, Darcy Akers 5, Penny Hughes 5, Kayla Roche 4. Totals 25-63 (3-18) 16-23 69.

Halftime: Blue 37-33

Boys game

BLUE 114, WHITE 108

BLUE — Keaton Jackson 23, Jason Moore 23, Gunnar Wahl 22, Warren Edmondson 21, Tra Ponder 16, Willie Bratcher 9. Totals 43-91 (7-23) 21-27 114.

WHITE — Bryan Butler 18, Joshua Hall 16, Oshay Piper 14, Keith Kirkland 14, Darius Goldman 13, Seth Belknap 12, Jacob Kaler 9, Grant Sitton 7, Josh Parker 5. 46-109 (12-37) 4-8 108.

Halftime: Blue 56-52