Banner Year
North Forest sophomore caps off big year
Joshua Koch
Jun 23, 2018, 7:11 pm
The North Forest sophomore received 48 offers Vype
Demond Demas just capped off a banner year.
The North Forest sophomore saw his football stock explode, reaching a massive 48 offers and then showed off his skills on the track.
Demas leapt his way to the Class 4A Long Jump State Championship, hitting a new personal record of 23-feet-8.50 inches on his final jump of the day to win it all in May.
“It makes me want to train harder,” Demas said. “I finally have a state title. That makes me want to push harder and get another one. This is a huge accomplishment in my life.”
Winning a state title in football or basketball is something Demas imagined, the sophomore admitted, but winning one in track didn’t cross his mind. The feeling of confidence that he could do this overcame him the moment he walked into Mike A. Myers Stadium.
“When I first walked in I had that feeling without a doubt,” Demas said. “I just knew I was going to win. I just jumped hard, played smart and did what I had to do. I’m a state champion.”
Demas’ name was already known before this meet – having an offer from Alabama and a visit from Nick Saban himself will do that. Heading into his junior year at North Forest, Demas holds offers from Alabama, Texas, Texas A&M, Clemson, Florida, LSU, Michigan and Oklahoma, just to name a few.
On top of that notoriety, Demas now has a gold medal around his neck that he admitted he may not even take off when he goes to bed or goes to school.
But Demas guaranteed this is only the beginning for him.
“I can promise you this,” Demas said. “It’s been amazing but there’s more to come.”
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Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points, Jeremy Sochan added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs held on to beat the Houston Rockets 109-106 on Saturday night in their home opener.
Wembanyama added seven rebounds and three blocks while shooting 10 for 17 from the field.
Chris Paul added three points and nine assists, including a drive and feed to Sochan for an open layup that put San Antonio up 104-99 with 1:35 remaining.
After trailing by 22 points in the first half, Houston was within one possession for much of the final minutes. The Rockets went on a 21-8 run in the opening six minutes of the final quarter, turning an 18-point deficit into a 95-90 lead for San Antonio.
Jalen Green had 27 points for Houston. Fred VanVleet added 18 and Dillon Brooks had 16.
Takeaways
Rockets: Houston wasted a good finish with a poor start. After shooting 34% through three quarters, including 17% in the second period, the Rockets shot 60% in the final quarter.
Spurs: San Antonio went 2 for 13 on 3-pointers after opening the game 6 for 7.
Key moment
After struggling mightily at times last season to get the ball into Wembanyama’s hands around the rim, a pair of passes from Paul yielded much promise and thunderous celebrations. Paul’s first lob resulted in an alley-oop dunk for Wembanyama with 2:12 remaining in the first half that put the Spurs up 57-38. Paul and Wembanyama repeated the alley-oop dunk a minute later, giving the Spurs a 59-38 advantage.
Key stat
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has stressed the need for his team to be more physical and the Spurs responded, outrebounding Houston 57-46.
Up next
The Rockets face the Spurs again on Monday to close out a two-game set in San Antonio.