We took in some Saturday basketball at the 2020 Ozarks Community Shootout in Weaubleau, played in their beautiful nearly brand new gymnasium. There were plenty of good teams on hand and some really competitive games. One such game was the fourth ranked in Class 2 Skyline boys against fourth ranked in Class 1 St. Elizabeth, a small village of 330 people in Miller County about 30 miles due south of Jefferson City. Skyline would build an early lead but watched that dissipate in the second quarter as St. Elizabeth goes into the half with a 37-31 lead.
In the third quarter, Skyline only allowed a single point to the Hornets and had the 41-38 lead. The fourth quarter was a doozy with numerous lead changes and ties. With the game knotted up at 48-all and 4 seconds left, Skyline had the ball on a side in bounds and found an open Chris Logan near the top of the key. His 3 was good at the buzzer and the Skyline players celebrated in jubilation on the floor as they get the 53-50 victory. For this article we look at what we saw from the key Skyline players.
Skyline started 5’10 senior guard Chris Logan, 6’4 junior forward Bradyn Porter, 6’3 sophomore forward Jaytin DeFreece, 5’9 sophomore guard Lawson Beem, and 5’9 senior guard Dax Beem.
Chris Logan – Logan is a strong lefty guard who knocked down some 3’s in this game. He has a nice looking stroke and gets his shot off quickly. Not only did he make the last second game winning 3, but he hit one before that to put his team up by two points in the fourth quarter. St. Elizabeth would tie it up after that, setting the stage for Logan’s last second 3 pointer. He has good handles and also plays solid defense.
Bradyn Porter – Porter came out like gangbusters in the opening quarter, hitting a couple of 3 pointers and then elevating for an alley oop dunk off a pass from star teammate Dax Beem. He is a versatile player and a great athlete who presents match up issues for opposing teams given his size, skills and overall athletic ability. St. Elizabeth largely held Porter in check for the rest of the game, but Porter’s pass to his open teammate Logan led to the game winner at the end. Only a junior, Porter will be a huge factor for Skyline the rest of this season and certainly next season when they will not have senior teammate Dax Beem around any longer. He transferred in from Marshfield before the season and earned a starting spot on a team that returned all five starters.
Jaytin DeFreece – Defreesce is a big, active sophomore who averaged nearly a double double as a starting freshman last season, making all conference in the process. Combined with Porter, he gives Spokane size and athleticism up front that most Class 2 teams do not have. He gets his hands on a lot of balls and has a motor that won’t quit. He has a good looking shot but in this game didn’t get a lot of them up. DeFreece is another key cog on this state ranked team and has a bright future ahead of him.
Dax Beem – Beem is a four year starter who made all state last season, and is quite simply the player who makes the Tigers go. He is deadly from the outside and one of the primary ball handlers on this team. He has an unorthodox shot but it works for him, as he canned at least 5 3’s in this game, most of them hitting nothing but net. He also had some nice drives to the rack thanks to his quickness off the dribble and possesses good handles and passing ability. On the other end, he’s a strong on the ball defender. In short, he does it all and is one of the best “little man” players in the area. He was the leading scorer of the game with 22 points in this thriller.
Lawson Beem – This Beem, younger brother of Dax, started as a freshman and made all conference with his 13 points and over 4 assists per game and has picked up where he left off in this season. As a primary ball handler he does a great job of finding his teammates and handing it without turning it over much. But he can also score, nailing a nice mid range step back jumper in this game, though like his fellow sophomore teammate DeFreece, he didn’t get a lot of shots up in this contest. But he did find his brother with a pass for a key open 3 in the highly contested fourth quarter. Expect his game and role to continue to expand as he goes through his varsity basketball career.
If you want to see some highlights from this game, “rsorald” (@SouthCenMoSports on Twitter) has the fourth quarter scoring from each team on their twitter feed, including the game winner, HERE.
