Harris Homecoming sees Jackson boys upend undefeated Ladue at home

Undefeated no longer – Jackson boys basketball used some critical 3-pointers and a defensive stymie to take down the Ladue Horton Watkins Rams, 53-51, at Jackson High School on Friday night to get its biggest win of the year so far.

With the Class 5 No. 2 Rams a staggering 13-0 going into the game, Jackson had an opportunity to make a statement and did so in amazing fashion, locking down the Rams en route to victory.

In the long-anticipated return game of senior Blayne Harris, the guard phenom starred early as Jackson built an 8-point lead at the end of the first quarter and he hit a couple of big triples down the stretch to help ice the game for the Indians.

“It’s really remarkable to have a kid that hadn't played basketball for two months step in and play the way he did,” Indians coach Kory Thoma said. “The kids knew he was back, the crowd knew he was back – everybody knew he was back.

“He had a really good game for us tonight. It’s tough to guard him and Kole Deck, and our defensive effort was spectacular. I'm super happy for the kids.”

Jackson opened the game with a big lead, relying on an early Harris triple and a couple of transition buckets to get out to an early edge.

While struggling mightily against Ladue’s press, Jackson conquered the challenge in the first quarter and built up a 19-11 lead after the first thanks to Harris’ buzzer-beating triple on a hail mary baseline pass with just a second left in the frame.

In a game truly dictated by runs early, Jackson’s 21-11 lead early in the second came crashing down as the Rams rallied to close the deficit to two. But, in turn, Jackson’s lead quickly swelled to eight just minutes later.

Despite another furious run from the Rams, the Indians held off the visitors to take a 31-29 lead into the locker room.

Jackson grabbed many big leads through the game, but none could stick as Ladue kept getting its hat back in the ring almost instantaneously. At the end of the day, it almost came back to bite Jackson. Almost.

“We’ve got to get better at situations like that,” Thoma said. “We needed some games like that. We needed the kids to feel that moment. Now we can put it back into practice.

“I told them what it was gonna be like tonight. I've seen it on film. For the most part, we executed, but we turned the ball over way too much. Those are things that we need to work on.”

Up five points early in the third quarter, Jackson again allowed Ladue to pull back into the game, this time with the Rams rallying all the way into a 37-36 lead – their first of the game.

Then, something relatively unthinkable happened. Jackson, down three points, got back-to-back 3-pointers from Harris and, when Braden Thompson found himself wide open in the paint, he muscled through the oncoming defender and rattled home an and-1 that caused the crowd to erupt.

Jackson took a 44-41 lead into the fourth quarter, and the crowd was absolutely loving it as the Indians fought off Ladue’s perilous momentum swings in the third quarter.

Kole Deck hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to make it a 5-point game, and again with just two minutes to make it a 6-point game, but Ladue was unrelenting.

With a chance to tie the game with just seconds on the clock down 53-51, Ladue’s Dwayne Foley put up two shots a mere two feet from the hoop but to no avail.

Jackson took the victory over the previously undefeated Ladue Horton Watkins Rams to improve to 10-6 on the season in unbelievable fashion.

Blayne Harris put in 19 points in the win, putting the exclamation point on his comeback game with an impressive four 3-pointers on the night. Kole Deck and Judd Thoma both chipped in 10 points in the win to provide a balanced scoring effort.

“This is a great team win,” Harris said. “Obviously, Ladue coming in undefeated, they're an amazing ballclub. Their culture is amazing. But we put in the work, day in and day out. We trust each other, we trust in the hard work we put in and it showed here tonight to win.”

Dwayne Foley and Samuel Goellner both put in 12 points for the visiting Rams, while Haydan Arnold rounded out double-digit scoring at 10 points.

Four games over .500 after a rough start to the season, Jackson looked like a totally different team on Friday night thanks to the return of Harris and another impeccable game from their defensive corps.

With a few more headliner SEMO Conference games left on the schedule in Cape Central, Sikeston and New Madrid County Central, there’s plenty to be told of Jackson’s story as it moves swiftly toward the postseason.

“Tonight proves that we have the ability to play with any team in the state,” Thoma said. “We get better, we get back to the gym and practice a little bit. The SEMO Conference is a gantlet, and it doesn’t get any easier from here.

“It's over and over and over again, every night. We'll take on the challenge and we'll continue to get better.”

__JACKSON 53, LADUE 51__

Ladue 11 18 12 10 — 51

Jackson 19 12 13 19 — 53

Jackson (53) — Blayne Harris 19, Kole Deck 10, Judd Thoma 10, Gavin Holdman 7, Braden Thompson 5, Braedon Thoma 2. FG: 19. (3-pointers: Harris 4, Deck 2)

Ladue (51) — Dwayne Foley 12, Samuel Goellner 12, Haydan Arnold 10, Piersson Calvert 5, Isadore Ba 4, Jack Edgerton 4, Jack Anderson 3, Ahmaad Ba 1. FG: 18. (3-pointers: Goellner 2, Calvert 1, Anderson 1)