Jackson blows by Notre Dame

The Jackson Indians used a two-way effort to take control early in their 52-23 win over the Notre Dame Bulldogs on Tuesday at Jackson High School.

A tenacious defensive effort and some sharpshooting from Blayne Harris allowed the Indians to jump out to a 21-4 lead after the first quarter.

“The kids came out and played really hard and our defensive intensity was there from the tip,” Indians coach Kory Thoma said. “Pretty much every shot they took tonight was contested. I thought we did a good job defensively tonight.”

Harris opened the first quarter with 11 points and credited his teammates for his success.

“It was my teammates looking for me and finding me open,” Harris said. “I’m just thankful to hit the shots.”

Thoma said Harris takes a lot of pressure off the other guys on the offensive side.

“He just takes the load off,” Thoma said. “Blayne’s a great player and he played well on both ends. He’s got the utmost confidence in the world.”

Jackson won the second quarter 11-5 to take a 32-9 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“I feel like we came out with great energy,” Harris said. “It shows a lot of maturity in this team to bounce back from that Cape Central loss on Friday. I feel like we just came out and played our game.”

Indians senior Clayton Ernst said following the loss on Friday it was important for the team to remember it was just one game.

“After Friday night we did some soul searching,” Ernst said. “We just said ‘We have to go on with the rest of the season, that was just one game.’”

After the third quarter, the Indians led 45-14 and they were able to coast to the finish line and win 52-23.

Leading the way on offense was Harris with 15 points, all of them in the first half. Clayton Ernst had 10 points and Steven Schneider had 9 points.

Brett Dohogne led the offense for Notre Dame with 8 points. Brock Clippard had 5 points and Will Henry Steward chipped in 4 points in the loss.

Notre Dame (7-11) will resume play on Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Nixa Invitational Tournament.

Jackson (13-5) will be back in action at home at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27 when the Indians host Miller Career Academy.