12 Angry Jurors
A Loss for
Answers
Mother loses child
to dental surgery
Justice theater
group shines
light on bias
See Local News, page 3
See Metro, page 9
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVI • Number 11
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • March 15, 2017
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo courtesy o regon s chools A thletic A ssociAtion
Jefferson High School celebrates winning a state basketball championship in basketball after a 70-67 win against Clackamas High School Saturday.
Best in State!
Jefferson celebrates 9th hoops championship
Jefferson High School proved it has
what it takes to win no matter the level of
competition by completing a nearly perfect
season in basketball and winning the Or-
egon Schools Athletic Association’s Boys
Class 6A State Championship.
Led by seniors Geno West and Thomas
Miles, the Democrats defeated Clackamas
High School, 70-67, on Saturday, in the
championship game played at the Univer-
sity of Portland’s Chiles Center. It was the
ninth state championship in boys basket-
ball for Jefferson and the first for the north
Portland school at the 6A level.
West scored 28 points, including a
3-pointer with 2:50 left on the clock to put
the Democrats ahead for good, and Miles
added 20 points for the Democrats who
were rated No. 1 going into state tourna-
ment play.
Jefferson finished the season at 26-1, the
only loss coming to Gonzaga College out
of Washington, D.C. The Democrats last
won a state final in 2014 in Class 5A.
No. 3 Clackamas (24-4) was making
its first appearance in the title game in 23
years. The Cavaliers were led by Elijah
Gonzalez with 22 points. Matt O’Brien
added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Clackamas defeated No. 2 West Linn
78-71 in the semifinals to advance to the
title game. Jefferson beat No. 4 Beaver-
ton 63-54 in its semifinal, and defeated
Grant, 77-61 two nights earlier. Grant High
School, representing northeast Portland,
finished in sixth place, beating Westview
52-45, before falling to West Salem, 70-73,
in the consolation bracket final.
On the girls’ side, No. 1 Southridge beat
No. 6 Oregon City 45-27 later Saturday
night at the Chiles Center for a 6A cham-
pionship.