Jackson boys basketball survives Charleston test, edges into Christmas Tournament final 69-62

Jackson boys basketball entered the 2015 Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament as the No. 1 seed, despite a modest start to the season. The Indians are proving they may have deserved the placement.

The tournament's top seed had four players in double figures and shot 25 of 30 from the free-throw line as Jackson survived No. 4 Charleston -- in a wire-to-wire slugfest for a second night in a row -- 69-62 on Tuesday night in a championship semifinal at the Show Me Center.

Jackson will take on rival Cape Central -- the second seed -- in the championship final Wednesday evening.

Jacob Smith led all scorers with 22 points for the Indians, and 6-foot-7 sophomore Cameron Hester added 11, including two big buckets late in the fourth quarter. Jacob Friess and Garrett Walker each pitched in 12 for the victors.

Charleston's Tenerrious Ewing pushes against Jackson's Pete Lake to rebound the ball after a free throw attempt during the first quarter in a championship semifinal game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (GLENN LANDBERG)

In a game that was tied or featured a lead changes 18 times and a gap that was never larger than seven points at any time after the 3:07 mark of the first quarter, Hester layed the ball in at 3:47 of the fourth quarter to give his team a three-point advantage and foul out dangerous Bluejay long-distance shooter Tenerrious Ewing. Twenty seconds later, Jacob Friess found Hester rolling to the basket for another two points and a 60-55 lead.

Those two field goals sparked a 13-6 game-sealing run for Jackson (6-5), which was 9 of 11 from the charity stripe in the game's final four minutes.

"I didn't think [Hester] played well early, but in the second half I thought he played really well," Jackson coach Darrin Scott said.

"[In the second half] I just looked out there and I could see they were just playing the game, they're not tight, they're not forcing things. That's good to see.

"I was proud. For where our team is, from a growth standpoint, to be able to win a close game in this environment, I thought that was good."

Charleston (5-5) was paced by Demarcus Sharp's 17 points, while Jeremy Tucker added 14 and Mardareyon Clark and Tenerrious Ewing each had 11.

But the Bluejays found themselves carrying a lot of fouls -- which Charleston coach Danny Farmer attributed to a lack of anticipation and defensive positioning -- and that affected their ability to play the way they wanted to.

Ultimately, Sharp and Ewing both fouled out.

"We had to become a little in-aggressive on defense after we picked up so many fouls to key players," Farmer said. "And we didn't shoot it well enough to win down the stretch. Jackson played great and shot free throws great. I thought they played a good game tonight.

"We thought we could [play how we wanted early on]. Once the kids get in foul trouble, they become timid, regardless of what you tell them. They start thinking about the fouls."

Jackson's Jacob Smith drive to the hoop for a shot over Charleston's Demarcus Sharp during the first quarter in a championship semifinal game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015 at the Show Me Center. (GLENN LANDBERG)

The Indians forced the issue more in the second half, creating opportunities to draw fouls thanks to better ball movement to create improved driving lanes. Although the game was nip-and-tuck all night, Jackson never trailed after it took a 44-41 lead at 2:13 of the third quarter on a Desmond Morris 3-pointer.

The top seed stretched the gap to as much as four points to end the third, 49-45, but Charleston answered back as Clark got a bucket inside the fourth quarter's first minute and Jeremy Tucker took the pass from Dontarius Sharp and layed it in to pull within one, 51-49, at 6:35 of the final period of play.

But moments later Jackson's Pete Lake launched a 3 that bounced high off the rim before settling through the twine, and then drove to the basket for two points and a 56-51 lead at 5:45.

"Normally we'd get killed inside with a big team, and we pretty much contained them and played them great inside," Farmer said. "But then they started knocking the 3s down and we couldn't get out there and contest them enough. They knocked down shots at the right time."

Charleston, again, pulled back within a point, as Clark got another basket in the paint and Demarcus Sharp hit a pair of free throws. The score was 56-55 with 4:03 remaining.

That's when Hester got his pair of buckets and Jackson -- at least relative to the thin margin between the two teams -- pulled away.

"I thought Jackson had kids that stepped up," Farmer said. "They handled our pressure well. I've seen them play before and they played better tonight, so I give them a lot of credit."

Jackson walked into the locker room at halftime with a 32-30 lead, but led just for just 2 minutes and 4 seconds of the first half.

"In the first half I thought we were lucky to be up two, to be honest," Scott said. "In the second half we did a much better job of moving the ball side to side and being aggressive. We got Cam the ball more often. Their defense had to spread out and we had more driving lanes. Early on we didn't have as much movement and they were able to help and recover."

Charleston started off fast, getting a game-opening 3-pointer from Ewing just 30 seconds into the game, and then a putback from Clark moments later for a 5-0 lead.

The Indians responded as Smith took control, scoring his team's first eight points during a minute and a half span. At 5:05 he took a pass from Stephen Irons and laid the ball in for an 8-7 lead.

That advantage lasted just 10 seconds, until Demarcus Sharp put down consecutive baskets for the Bluejays to take back the lead, 13-8.

Charleston stretched that to as much as 20-11 when Dontarius Sharp scored with 3:07 left in the first.

Jackson then went on an 8-0 run to close the period, with a pair of 3-pointers from Garrett Walker making it a one-point game, 20-19, after eight minutes.

A triple from Smith gave Jackson just its second lead of the game, 24-22, at 5:45 of the second quarter, and the two sides traded buckets the rest of the way. The last came when Friess hit a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left in the half to give the Indians a 32-30 edge at the game's midway point.

That lead didn't hold up, but the Indians did.

Charleston will face No. 3 Notre Dame in the third-place game Wednesday, slated for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

The championship will follow at 7:30.

Vote for the 2015 Southeast Missourian Tournament Fan MVP at semoball.com/mvpvote

Charleston 20 10 15 17 -- 62

Jackson 19 13 17 20 -- 69

CHARLESTON (62) -- Dontarius Sharp 5, Kelvondre Moore 4, Demarcus Sharp 17, Mardareyon Clark 11, Jeremy Tucker 14, Tenerrious Ewing 11. FG 25, FT 8-12, F 22. (3-pointers: Dem. Sharp 2, Ewing, Don. Sharp. Fouled out: Dem. Sharp, Ewing.)

JACKSON (69) -- Desmond Morris 3, Jacob Friess 12, Garrett Walker 12, Jacob Smith 22, Pete Lake 7, Stephen Irons 2, Cameron Hester 11. FG 19, FT 25-30, F 16. (3-pointers: Walker 2, Smith 2, Morris, Lake. Fouled out: Smith.)