Jackson boys basketball team avenges loss to Notre Dame

Sometimes a coach doesn't have to say anything to rally his players' emotions for a big game.

Friday night at a crowded Jackson High School gymnasium probably qualified as one of those occasions. But Jackson coach Darrin Scott wanted to be sure his team had the right mindset when it took the court, looking to avenge a two-point loss to Notre Dame in the championship game of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

His top-seed Indians had 30 days to stew over watching the Bulldogs, the third seed, hoist the trophy on the Show Me Center floor at Southeast Missouri State University.

"Coach had some pretty strong words to say, we'll put it that way, in the beginning of the game in how he wanted us to come out and play," Jackson senior Braden Wendel said. "We were upset, obviously we wanted that Christmas Tournament game back. He said if we come out and play hard, we're going to go up by 20 and we're going to keep it there and we're going to show that we were the better team."

The Indians pretty much followed Scott's script.

Jackson closed out the first quarter with a 15-0 run and never allowed its rival to cut the deficit to single digits thereafter on the way to a 68-51 victory in SEMO Conference action.

The loss ended a 12-game winning streak for Notre Dame (15-4, 3-2 SEMO Conferenc), which sustained its first loss of 2015 and first since a 30-point conference loss to Sikeston on Dec. 19.

Notre Dame scored the opening basket of the game when season-leading scorer Quinn Poythress, a 6-foot-7 senior, scored inside off a pass from Thomas Himmelberg and led 7-4 when senior Grant Ressel completed a conventional three-point play after a steal at mid-court with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first quarter.

Jackson held Notre Dame scoreless on its final eight possessions of the quarter, forcing six turnovers -- most out of its half-court defense -- in its 15-0 burst, which started on a three-point play by senior Connor Shepard, who was fouled depositing a missed 3-pointer by Wendel at the 3:21 mark to tie the score.

Blake Reynolds, the Indians' top scorer on the season who matches Poythress in grade and height, then began to stir offensively when the Yale-bound senior sank the first of his two 3-point baskets in the period.

Five Indians contributed points in the run, including a pair of free throws by Wendel, a 15-foot jumper by junior guard Garrett Walker and an offensive put back by Cameron Hester, a 6-6 freshman, at the buzzer to close the period with Jackson ahead 19-7.

"We knew there was going to be a lot of energy and they were out for revenge, and I don't think we were really fully ready for it until the second half," Poythress said. "They kind of came out and punched us in the face, and we weren't really able to recover from there."

Shepard extended the lead to 14 points when he scored in heavy traffic inside on the Indians' first possession of the second quarter before Ressel ended the Bulldogs' five-minute scoring drought with another three--point play, which was countered seconds later by a Wendel three-point play.

Jackson led by 15 points when it pushed its lead to Scott's pre-game designated level with a 6-0 burst, started when Wendel scored off an offensive rebound with 1:55 remaining. Junior Jacob Smith added a pair of free throws and a fastbreak layin for a 21-point lead with 1:05 left in the half.

The Indians led 41-22 at the half after hitting on 14 of 25 shots (56 percent) from the field and holding the Bulldogs to 6-of-18 shooting (33 percent). Notre Dame also was limited to just two offensive rebounds, while Jackson scored directly off four offensive rebounds, including a highlight reel follow-up slam dunk by Reynolds midway through the second quarter.

"The games we struggled, we've gotten behind and had to play catch-up, and we haven't handled those situations well," Scott said. "Tonight, I thought it was huge that we got off to a great start."

One of those trailing situations came in the Christmas tournament final, where the Indians played from behind much of the game, including by 14 points in the fourth quarter before mounting a spirited but futile charge.

It was part of an inconsistent start for the Indians, who lost a couple of key players to graduation, including leading scorer Karson King, from a 25-6 team that reached the Class 5 quarterfinals a year ago but returned experienced talent. A roster that includes Reynolds and Wendel -- among four seniors -- was deemed worthy of the top seeds in the SEMO Conference Tournament and the Christmas tournament. New Madrid County Central upset the Indians in the first round of the former, while Notre Dame performed the honor in the latter.

Reynolds and Wendel combined for 36 points in the title game of the Christmas tournament and did so again Friday night, with Reynolds netting 20 points and Wendel scoring 16.

However, others like Smith have been upping their contribution. Smith matched Wendel with 16 points in Friday's meeting.

"I feel like we play with more confidence," Smith said. "We came into the season and kind of had a lot of expectations, and I feel a lot of pressure got to us. Now, we're just a lot more confident."

Smith was steady throughout Friday's contest, with eight points in each half and sinking 6 of 7 free throws.

"Blake and Braden aren't doing all the scoring," Scott said. "I feel like the other guys are now playing basketball, they're being aggressive offensively, they're looking to knock down shots. And then some of the younger guys, like tonight, Cameron Hester and [sophomore] Jacob Friess were able to come in and give us quality minutes, where earlier they were struggling with that. But I think they're doing a real good job with that."

Jackson (15-5, 3-1) has won four games in a row, including victories over state-ranked Park Hills Central, St. Charles West (12-5) and Pacific. The road victory over Pacific (13-4) terminated a 10-game winning streak. It's added to the confidence of the Indians, and it was on display Friday night.

"I feel like we didn't come out scared," Wendel said. "I feel like with it being at the Christmas tournament, at the Show Me Center with 5,000 people watching ... these are a lot of kids that haven't played a lot of varsity basketball and they were scared and they didn't believe in themselves, I feel like. They come out, and they knew what they could do. Jacob for example, he came out and played the best game that he's ever played. He has the ability to do that. He came out with confidence, and the same with everybody. Everybody came in and gave us good minutes and played with confidence."

The Bulldogs held Poythress to eight points in the first half and 18 points on the night. Poythress had scored 40 points in the Bulldogs' most recent win, a 78-48 victory over Park Hills Central, and had topped at least 26 points in the previous two games, each time finishing as the Bulldogs' lone scorer in double figures. He shot with hands in face most of Friday night as Wendel, Reynolds and Shepard -- all at least 6 foot 4 -- took turns defending.

"We knew that we were going to have to be urgent every time he touched the ball, getting out on him and not letting him get a shot off, and over the past few games we've had some guys like that and that's given us experience doing that, so we really brought that tonight," Reynolds said.

Jackson took a 50-36 lead into the fourth quarter against Notre Dame, which twice closed to within 11 points in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter before the Indians widened the gap.

Ressel added 14 points for Notre Dame.

"I think we're both improved basketball teams -- I don't care what the scoreboard says," Notre Dame coach Paul Unterreiner said. "But they're a good basketball team that has a lot of good weapons, and they played their tails off. And tonight they played a little bit harder than we did. We'll get back to the drawing board and we'll crank it up and be ready to go."

Jackson 68, Notre Dame 51

Notre Dame 7 15 14 15 -- 51

Jackson 19 22 9 18 -- 68

NOTRE DAME (51) -- Blake Bauwens 6, Grant Ressel 14, Tanner Shively 5, Quinn Poythress 18, Trenton Schumer 2, Thomas Himmelberg 3, Dean Crippen 3. FG 19, FT 8-14, F 22 (3-pointers: Bauwens 2, Ressel , Shively, Himmelberg. Fouled out: none)

JACKSON (68) -- Jonathon Friess 2, Garrett Walker 4, Braden Wendel 16, Jacob Smith 16, Blake Reynolds 20, Connor Shepard 8, Cameron Hester 2. FG 22, FT 21-29, F 15 (3-pointers: Reynolds 3. Fouled out: none)