Finally in its backyard, Jackson basketball opens Heartland Shootout

The Jackson Indians boys’ basketball team has searched near and far for competition, traveling from Tennessee to southwest Missouri looking to up the ante against strong competition from all around the region.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, however, the competition comes to them. An assortment of southeast Missouri basketball teams play host to teams from across the river in the Heartland Shootout at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex.

“It's really nice to sleep in my own bed tonight after playing tough competition all day,” Jackson coach Kory Thoma laughed. “So you know, we've put in some time this summer. You know, this will be the last thing we do, so it is nice to have good local talent come here.”

The Indians opened the tournament up with a matchup against the Carbondale Terriers. In a matchup that went the full length of the two 18-minute halves, Jackson narrowly took a 59-51 win.

To-be senior Blayne Harris became a point of emphasis on defense for Carbondale, but he continued to shake defenders and finished with an array of 3-point makes to help push the Indians to an event-opening win.

Harris is a member of a highly-talented senior class, bunched in with key returners and potential starters such as Braedon Thoma, Judd Thoma and Gavin Holdman.

While the senior class will look to return to Springfield as did the class before them, coach Thoma is focused on the summer before looking forward to tipping off the season in November.

“We're just trying to get wrapped around guarding, moving the ball, cutting and things like that,” Thoma said. “We haven't gotten to goal-setting yet. That'll be this fall, we kind of like what I did with last year's team.

“We always look forward to that time of year, the goal-setting. We're gonna play hard, just like we did last year. Our ultimate goal is to get back to where we were. It's gonna take a lot of work for my kids.”

After playing and defeating Carbondale on Tuesday, Jackson looks to improve upon its record against Murphysboro and Herrin on Wednesday, slated to open up their day against Murphysboro at 11:40 a.m. at the SportsPlex.