Indians stand tall in end, defeat Central 55-49

The Jackson boys basketball team could not take advantage of a huge size advantage against short-handed Central on Tuesday night at the Show Me Center, but the Indians had enough to squeak by the rival Tigers 55-49 in a battle of district foes.

The Indians have five players 6-foot-3 or taller in their rotation, while Central used just two players listed at 6-3 or taller. But Jackson post players Hunter Grantham and Antonio Garritano had just nine points combined through three quarters.

"They did a good job in their zone trying to give us outside shots," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. "They had two guys by our post. We made a couple of shots from the perimeter early, and that probably was a bad thing because we started to look for that instead of penetrating to the basket, which is what we wanted to do."

Central came on strong in the second quarter and had the Indians on their heels at times in the second and third quarters. A seven-point deficit after one quarter had been cut to 27-24 by halftime. Less than 2 minutes into the second half Central had claimed its first lead, 29-27, on a 3-point play from Anthony Watts.

The lead was traded five times in the third quarter with one tie. The Tigers took their biggest lead, 38-34, late in the third quarter. Playing without starting point guard Jajuan Bell, who recently was kicked off the team, Central spread its offense around with accurate passing.

"When things are going bad, you lose a couple of games or things aren't going your way, that's when teams have to come together," Central coach Drew Church said. "I'm so proud how they worked together. They were really unselfish tonight. They played unselfish, and when you do that it makes it hard to play against you."

Jackson (17-7, 6-2) used a 7-2 run at the end of the third quarter to take a 41-40 lead. When the Indians needed a basket in the fourth, they were able to use their size to generate offense through post play and offensive rebounds. A layin from Spencer Goodman 2 minutes into the quarter gave Jackson its biggest lead of the second half at 47-41.

Central (10-12, 4-2) had a chance to tie the score down 51-49 with 3 minutes left but failed to convert. On the other end, Grantham got a pair of offensive rebounds and a put the latter back to push the lead to 53-49.

"The first half, one of the things we didn't do well is get it inside and get second shots," Scott said. "The second half, we started to shoot it well, and when we didn't, we got second shots."

After holding Central on defense, Jackson was able to run off more than a minute of clock. When the Tigers finally put Jackson on the line, 31 seconds was all that was left.

Goodman missed his first try on a one-and-one, but George Hamilton was called for traveling on the other end. Central turned the ball over again down 54-49 with 18 seconds left, and Jackson was able to pull out the win.

"We've had some games where we haven't played particularly well, but we didn't lose our composure," Scott said. "The second half we were able to put together four or five possessions in a row where we guarded well and got some stops."

Goodman led the Indians with 14 points, Jake Leet tallied 11 and Grantham had 10.

Jackson has now won seven of eight games and will end the regular season with road games at New Madrid Friday and Kelly on Tuesday.

Hamilton led Central with 16 points. Garrett Pannier and Chase Johnson had eight points apiece.

The Tigers were playing their first game since being routed last week against Notre Dame at the Show Me Center. Up next for the Tigers are SEMO Conference powers Sikeston and Charleston.

"Each game we have to get better," Church said. "Tonight, we took some steps forward, and Friday we have to take some steps. Whatever it takes to be a better basketball team now until district time we'll do."

Jackson 55, Central 49

Central 10 14 16 9 -- 49

Jackson 17 10 14 14 -- 55

CENTRAL (49) -- George Hamilton 16, Garrett Pannier 8, Chase Johnson 8, Anthony Watts 7, Kerry Walker 6, Derek Walker 4. FG 20, FT 7-12, F 16 (3-pointers: Pannier 2. Fouled out: none)

JACKSON (55) -- Spencer Goodman 14, Jake Leet 11, Hunter Grantham 10, Steven Spradlin 9, Matt Lang 6, Antonio Garritano 5. FG 22, FT 8-14, F 15 (3-pointers: Lang 1, Leet 1, Goodman 1. Fouled out: none)